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THS football stung in opener

By Eric Sorrentino - | Aug 31, 2007

? Typically, running the ball is a major variable in the formula for success for Tonganoxie High School football.

On Friday night, the Chieftains averaged only 3.2 yards per rushing attempt. Tonganoxie lost on the road, 42-6, against Lansing Friday in the first week of the high school football season.

“The first half, we didn’t block anything correctly,” Tonganoxie coach Mark Elston said. “Our assignments were way off and our backs weren’t hitting holes correctly.”

Lansing erupted for 21 points in the second quarter. Senior quarterback Bobby Hauver gave the Lions a four-touchdown lead with 3:57 remaining before halftime when he sprinted past the Chieftains secondary down the right-hand sideline. Hauver found the corner of the endzone before any THS player could catch up.

Hauver finished with 46 yards rushing and 148 yards passing. He accounted for two scores.

“They didn’t do anything very tricky,” Elston said. “They just lined up and whipped us at the line. That’s a little bit disheartening.”

Lansing running back Chris Hill, who’s already received offers to play at the Division I collegiate level, also gave Tonganoxie trouble. Hill didn’t light up the stat sheet, but was a work horse. Lansing gave Hill the ball 17 times. He rushed for 61 yards and two scores.

The Lions produced 254 yards rushing, as compared to Tonganoxie’s 113.

“In that first half, we just weren’t very aggressive defensively,” Elston said. “It showed that we were like deer in the headlights. We had guys who hadn’t seen that kind of speed or that kind of size before and were a little taken back by it.”

Despite a 28-point halftime deficit, Tonganoxie didn’t give up. Players ferociously tried to pump each other up on the sidelines after positive plays.

The second half saw many more positive plays for THS. Jeremy Carlisle, who started his first game ever at the high school level, connected with senior D.J. Gray on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 11:15 remaining in the final quarter. Carlisle showed poise, particularly for a freshman, during the eight-play, 59-yard drive. The touchdown pass came during a 4th-and-10 situation.

Carlisle finished the night 2-for-5 with 29 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Two of Carlisle’s incompletions were the result of dropped passes. Carlisle also had 15 yards on the ground.

“He’s going to learn the speed of the game, and I think on his first pass, he realized the speed of the game is a whole lot different,” Elston said of the interception. “He’s used to playing against 13-year-old kids and he’s playing against 18-year-old men out there now. Considering what he was under and his first game as a quarterback, I was pleased. He did some very good things and showed some poise.”

Tonganoxie will play on the road again in its second game of the season Sept. 7 against Kansas City Ward.

See Wednesday’s edition of The Mirror for the full story.

Score by quarter:
Lansing — 7 21 7 7 — 42
Tonganoxie — 0 0 0 6 — 6

Scoring summary
First quarter:
7:44 — Lansing — Chris Hill 5 run (Matt Robbins kick)
Second quarter:
11:28 — Lansing — Kevin Johnson 30 pass from Bobby Hauver (Robbins kick)
10:06 — Lansing — Hill 4 run (kick failed)
3:57 — Lansing — Hauver 44 run (two-point conversion good)
Third quarter:
1:46 — Lansing — Brad Terron 31 run (Robbins kick)
Fourth quarter
11:15 — Tonganoxie — D.J. Gray 24 pass from Jeremy Carlisle (two-point conversion failed)
7:20 — Lansing — Brenton Smith 3 run (Robbins kick)