LAWSON, Mo. — After Lawson’s Taylor Akey fumbled the snap on the first play, it seemed destined to be one of those nights as the Cardinals hosted South Harrison in a Class 2 regional playoff game.

However, Lawson showed grit and patience, holding off the Bulldogs for a 40-13 victory.

The Bulldogs’ (8-3) made things interesting as quarterback T.J. Heitz completed three of his first four passes, each for more than 12 yards, to open the third quarter.

But Heitz was hurt on his fifth pass and missed one play. Second-string quarterback Billy Wendt fumbled his only snap for a 12-yard loss, pushing the Bulldogs back to the 28-yard line.

Wasting no time, Heitz came back in and threw a 28-yard strike while falling down to Wendt, who did a small juggling act before making the reception. The score narrowed Lawson’s lead to 20-13.

The Cardinals (10-1) kept their poise and fired back with a 5-yard touchdown run by Johnny Sutphin. The run, set up by teammate Dalton Petty’s 25-yard scamper on a sweep left, gave the Cardinals a 27-13 advantage.

“It seemed like every time we got something going, they came right back with an answer,” South Harrison coach Caleb Obert said. “They showed us that not only could they score on the big plays but also on long, sustained drives.”

The Cardinals scored again 2 minutes later in the last part of the third quarter when Derek Biddix ran for a 15-yard touchdown, widening the lead to 33-13. Finally, breaking the will of the scrappy South Harrison team, the Cardinals went on to hold them scoreless in the final quarter and added another touchdown of their own, finishing off the Bulldogs 40-13.

“We have known this was a good group all year and just kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the past,” Lawson coach Todd Dunn said. “But tonight we really were firing on all cylinders. “