×
×
homepage logo

THS football suffers district loss at Piper

By Justin Nutter - | Oct 23, 2014

Justin Nutter

Kyle Fain ran for a season-high 106 yards Thursday in Tonganoxie's 56-14 loss to Piper.

? For nearly 20 minutes of game time, the Tonganoxie High football team went blow-for-blow with offensive juggernaut Piper on the road. However, the heavyweight fight later evolved into a track meet, and the Chieftains couldn’t keep up.

THS led Piper early in the second quarter, but couldn’t match the Pirates’ speed late in a 56-14 loss in Thursday’s Class 4A-I district 1 matchup. Piper proved to be a big play threat all night, as six of its eight touchdowns came on plays of more than 40 yards.

The Chieftains (2-6, 1-1 district) got a pair of early rushing touchdowns from Jared Sommers — the second of which Sommers set up with an interception on defense. That gave them a 14-13 advantage, but Sommers left the game with an injury late in the second quarter and never returned. The Pirates (7-1, 2-0) scored 22 points in the final 7:12 of the half to take a 35-14 advantage into the locker room. Travon Jones scored on runs of 46 and 33 yards, then Sterling Owens ripped off a 73-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left until the break.

“It was just a battle of big plays,” coach Al Troyer said. “Jones is a good athlete. We had trouble corralling him, but everybody has had trouble corralling him. I thought, for the most part, we shut them down running up the middle. They had to go to the outside and they broke a few.”

The Chieftains struggled to move the ball early in the second half, but used third-quarter interceptions by Grant Swearngin and Milton Ulreich — both in THS territory — to keep the deficit at 21 points. It was the second interception for Swearngin this season and the first for Ulreich.

“We had some people step up for Jared,” Troyer said. “Our kids fought hard and I don’t think (Piper) got the game they were expecting. That’s a tribute to our kids.”

Piper broke through on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Ben Wietharn to Sean Pahls with 4:38 left in the quarter, then Travon Jones added a 46-yard punt return for a score just more than a minute later.

The THS offense eventually found its footing in the form of running back Kyle Fain, but failed to put the ball in the end zone. The Chieftains got a chance when they drove into PHS territory midway through the fourth quarter, but quarterback Carl Hecht threw an interception inside the 10. Piper’s J.J. Letcher provided the final points on a 44-yard run with 2:48 to go.

Jones and Owens ran for 88 yards each to pace the Piper rushing attack, which combined for 281 yards. Wietharn added 159 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Fain, who has missed significant time this season with an injury, was the lone offensive bright spot after Sommers’ departure, racking up 106 yards on 30 carries — both season highs. Sommers had 36 yards to go along with his two scores. Hecht was just 3-of-16 passing, including an 0-for-10 mark in the second half.

THS will try to secure a playoff spot for the third straight season when it welcomes Kaw Valley League rival Basehor-Linwood to Beatty Field on Oct 31. The Chieftains defeated the Bobcats in last year’s regular season finale, 29-14.

“It’s been the same thing the last three years,” Troyer said. “We’ve been over there before. It will be a great atmosphere.”

BLHS, currently 0-1 in district play, will travel Friday to Atchison in this week’s other district game. Check back next week for updated district standings.

Score by quarters

THS 7 7 0 0 — 14

PHS 13 22 14 7 — 56

First quarter

PHS — Colton Beebe 5 run (kick failed), 6:29

THS — Jared Sommers 10 run (Kendall Parsons kick), 2:38

PHS — J.J. Letcher 58 pass from Ben Wietharn (Alex Bach kick), 1:49

Second quarter

THS — Sommers 3 run (Parsons kick), 7:36

PHS — Travon Jones 46 run (Jones run), 7:12

PHS — Jones 33 run (Bach kick), 3:38

PHS — Sterling Owens 73 run (Back kick), 1:02

Third quarter

PHS — Sean Pahls 48 pass from Wietharn (Bach kick), 4:38

PHS — Jones 46 punt return (Bach kick), 3:27

Fourth quarter

PHS — Letcher 44 run (Back kick), 2:48

Rushing

THS: Kyle Fain 30-106, Jared Sommers 11-36, Carl Hecht 8-7, Zac Morgan 3-6; PHS: Travon Jones 10-88, Sterling Owens 5-88, J.J. Letcher 3-58, Colton Beebe 4-47, Danny Bradley 1-10, Kip VanHoose 2-(-2), Ben Wietharn 2-(-8).

Passing

THS: Carl Hecht 3-16-1 36, Jared Sommers 0-2-0 0; PHS: Ben Wietharn 10-17-3 159.

Receiving

THS: Greg DeVeau 2-20, Jared Sommers 1-16; PHS: Jake Jones 3-33, J.J. Letcher 2-64, Jordan Guess 2-14, Sean Pahls 1-48, Travon Jones 1-5, Sterling Owens 1-(-5).