Well, technically it was a home game.

After last week’s rains saturated an already wounded turf at Beatty Field in Tonganoxie, officials asked for the game to be moved to Basehor’s Kiester Field. The Bobcats came out in their white road uniforms at home, while Tonganoxie donned their home reds.

After leading just 6-0 after the first quarter, Tonganoxie erupted often the rest of the game, winning 66-13 in coach Mark Elston’s first win against Basehor-Linwood in his three years at THS. And, the Chieftains got another “home” victory.

“We should play all of our home games over here,” Elston said.

The win stopped some profuse bleeding for the Chieftains. After starting the season 3-1, Tonganoxie dropped its next three games before evening its record at 4-4 Friday.

Tonganoxie scored 13 points in the last three weeks, but winless Basehor-Linwood cured the Chieftains’ offensive woes.

At halftime, Tonganoxie led 30-0, amassing 300 rushing yards compared to the Bobcats’ 11.

Senior Troy Morando and junior Justin Walker shared time at quarterback as they have all year Friday with plenty of offense spread between the tandem.

Walker had 220 yards on 13 carries, while Morando had 214 on 19 carries. Walker scored five touchdowns with his longest on an 87-yard scamper. Morando’s longest score came on a 64-yard run. James Hartshorn also had a 1-yard score, while Billy Baska returned a punt 67 yards for the Chieftains’ final score. Kicker Kirk Rodell, who also plays on the THS soccer team, was 6-for-8 on extra points.

Friday also was Elston’s 39th birthday, giving the coach one more thing to smile about. Now at 4-4, the Chieftain players are more jovial, too. With a 1-1 district record, the Chieftains need a win against Lansing on Thursday to ensure their first postseason berth since 1995. If LHS (4-4) wins, they would be the No. 2 seed behind Piper.

As for Friday, the victory was a much-anticipated win for Morando.

“I’ve been dreaming of beating these guys for a long time,” Morando said. “We just started having fun out there and made it a contest to see who could have the best night.”

Walker, meanwhile, was just happy to get some offensive production.

“That was the first night where we’ve had an opportunity to get going like that,” Walker said. “The holes just opened up and we didn’t make any mistakes.”

Tonganoxie 66, Basehor-Linwood 13

Basehor (0-8) 0 0 0 13 13
Tonganoxie (4-4) 6 26 21 13 66

T Justin Walker 8 run (kick failed)
T Troy Morando 6 run (pass failed)
T Walker 24 run (Kirk Rodell kick)
T Morando 16 run (run failed)
T Walker 20 run (Rodell kick)
T Walker 20 run (Rodell kick)
T Morando 64 run (Rodell kick)
T Walker 87 run (Rodell kick)
T James Hartshorn 1 run (Rodell kick)
T Billy Baska 67 punt return (kick failed)
BL Tyler Dowdall 28 run (Charles Millison kick)
BL Peter Brown 14 run (kick failed)