Tonganoxie football outlasts Spring Hill, 33-13, in season opener
Shawn Linenberger
What a difference a year makes.
Last year, the Tonganoxie Chieftains would have been the team to make the costly mistakes.
But this year, they are a veteran football team that has learned from past miscues. That experience paid dividends on opening night, when the Chieftains were the much more polished team.
Tonganoxie took advantage of seemingly every opportunity Spring Hill presented on THS’ way to a 33-13 home win in the season opener.
Junior quarterback Mason Beach led the way, completing 10-of-15 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns, along with junior running back Zac Morgan, who had three receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown.
“It was a game of momentum and a game of mistakes,” head coach Al Troyer said. “We were able to capitalize. It’s obviously a whole different ballgame if they score those touchdowns.”
The Broncos had three touchdowns called back due to penalty, and didn’t score any points on all three of the ensuing drives.
Meanwhile, the Chieftains made a living off big plays. They had touchdowns of 37, 27 and 63 yards, along with another 45-yard passing play.
“Anytime a defense gives up a big play it’s disheartening,” head coach Al Troyer said.
Troyer couldn’t have scripted a better start for his Chieftains. On the first play from scrimmage, senior running back Jordan brown ran 63 yards for a touchdown that gave THS an early 7-0 lead.
Three plays later, senior Keaton Rickard intercepted a pass and then followed that up by catching a nine-yard touchdown from Beach for a 13-0 Tonganoxie lead.
“Anytime you score on the first play of the season it’s great,” Troyer said. “After those first two quick ones, everybody settled into the game. They were able to grind the ball too but just weren’t able to get touchdowns.”
However, Tonganoxie wasn’t able to extend its lead for most of the second and third quarter mainly due to the run defense of Spring Hill. After his initial 63-yard touchdown run, Brown only managed 32 more yards on 14 carries.
Once the Broncos finally scored and pulled within 19-13, the Chieftains suddenly were faced with their first real pressure of the season. But on fourth-and-seven, they came up with the biggest play of the game.
Beach hit Morgan for a 37-yard passing touchdown, giving the Chieftains a 27-13 lead and a renewed sense of security. Troyer said he was pleased with the way his players responded in that situation.
Troyer also was pleased with the way the Chieftains held on to their fourth quarter lead and never let up. Last year, it was not uncommon for the Chieftains to relinquish double-digit leads late in games. This year, at least so far, is a completely different story.
“That’s another year of maturity,” Troyer said. “We played eight sophomores last year. I told them before the game, ‘you’re juniors now. There are no more excuses, like you’re too young to play this game. It’s time to get up and play.’ And they stepped up.”
Tonganoxie (1-0) will look for more of the same on the road next week at Eudora. The Cardinals also are 1-0 after winning, 22-6, against Baldwin on the road.