In his first season as coach of the Spartans, Lawrence led the team to a 9-3 record.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — In a conversation about what the statistics tell you to do in football, there’s always one anomaly.
That’s Bill Lawrence at Lima Senior, a former assistant under two legendary Kenton coaches, Brent Fackler and Hall-of-Famer Mike Mauk, who studied under Kevin Kelley at Pulaski Academy.
Kelley, who’s currently the head coach at Sheridan High School in Arkansas, gained notoriety for his playing style, which includes a pass-heavy offense, rarely ever punting, always going for two after a touchdown and kicking multiple onside kicks in a game.
It’s a formula that’s produced positive results in both Mauk’s and Kelley’s careers.
In 31 years at Kenton, Mauk compiled a record of 221-122. He led the Wildcats to back-to-back state championships in 2001 and 2002.
Kelley had a winning percentage while serving as head coach at Pulaski Academy from 2003-2020. During that time, he led the program to nine Arkansas Activities Association State Championships and finished his tenure with a record of 216-29-1.
So does the system work?
The answer to that question has been a resounding yes, and Lawrence has carried on the beliefs of his mentors.
He said it’s about two things, putting pressure on the other team and using the power of the unknown.
“Your team has to believe in what you’re doing,” Lawrence said. “When you take that lead and you’re up eight against a team that doesn’t like to go for two, you make them have to make some different decisions.
“After we score, you also have to defend all the onside kicks that we do.”
Lawrence said the object behind the onside kick is to demoralize the other team. He points to odds that say when a team recovers at least one onside kick in a game, the percentage of that team winning the game goes up to about 80.
The Spartans recovered multiple onside kicks in more than one game last year.
“It just turned the game,” Lawrence said. “Last season we were up six at halftime and we came out and recovered two onside kicks in the third quarter. All of a sudden we were up 21.
“I would hope that teams have to prepare 15-30 minutes per day for that because you never know what we’re going to do. I may dream something up the night before a game, and then we’ll do it.”
It’s also a matter of keeping Lima Senior’s offense in rhythm. That’s not something that can happen if the Spartans kick the ball deep and the other team has a long 90-yard scoring drive.
In a worst-case scenario where the Spartans allow their opponent to score, he wants them to do it quickly.
And when Lima Senior gets the ball back, sometimes its best defense is its offense. They use all four downs to get 10 yards, which can alter playcalling.
In a rare situation where the offense isn’t moving the ball, the Spartans might punt — but it’s not that simple.
The team’s punter is also its starting quarterback, Ja’Niaus Hall, and when he punts, he does it out of the offense, not in a true punt formation.
It’s just another scenario that’s about trying to catch the opposing team on its heels.
Lawrence never backs down from this way of thinking. He said that even when he plays his players in EA Sports College Football ‘25, a video game, he never punts, he always goes for two and he kicks multiple onside kicks.
The Spartans embrace analytics to an extreme degree, and Lawrence knows that it may be viewed as unconventional, but he sees the logic behind all of it.
“Some coaches might look at it from the other sideline,” he said, “and say something like, ‘Hey there’s a crazy guy on the other side. We never know what he’s going to do,’ and then they’re ready for anything, but at the end of the day, there is a method to our madness.”
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