The Chieftains took a 9-0 lead into halftime Friday at Turner, but allowed three third-quarter touchdowns in a 28-15 loss to the Bears.

Tonganoxie (0-2, 0-1 Kaw Valley League) limited Turner (2-0, 1-0) to just 88 yards in the first half, but the Bears got a spark when Darnell Miller opened the second half with a 73-yard kick return for a touchdown. Miller muffed the return, but picked up the loose ball, eluded several tacklers and broke free down the middle of the field to get turner on the board just 13 seconds into the half.

“That was a big momentum swing,” coach Al Troyer said. “We had him pinned in and let him get away. If we make that stop there, it’s a whole different ball game.”

Following a Tonganoxie three-and-out, the Bears took the lead on a 55-yard drive, capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by Ryan O’Neal midway through the third. Tonganoxie fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, and Turner quarterback Santino Bernal made it 21-9 on a three-yard run with 2:55 left in the period.

The Chieftains failed to pick up a first down again on their next possession, and Turner went up by 19 on a one-yard plunge by Vincent John with 7:36 to go in the fourth. Tonganoxie quarterback Carl Hecht completed several passes on the following drive, including a seven-yard scoring strike to Jared Sommers with just less than four minutes remaining.

The Chieftains tried an onside kick, but the kick went out of bounds and the Bears ran the clock down to less than one minute. Tonganoxie drove inside Turner territory, but couldn’t score before time ran out.

A safety gave the Chieftains some early momentum, as a snap on a Turner punt attempt went out the back of the end zone midway through the first quarter. A 32-yard pass from Hecht to Greg DeVeau put Tonganoxie in scoring position late in the second, and Hecht and DeVeau connected again on a seven-yard touchdown pass.

“The kids responded well by moving the ball and the end, then going down and scoring,” Troyer said.

The Chieftains recovered a Turner fumble on the next drive to keep the first-half shutout intact. The turnover gave them a chance to pad their lead just before the break, but they turned the ball over on downs at the Turner 17 with just 43.1 seconds left.

Hecht was 18-of-30 passing for 178 yards to along with his two scores, but was intercepted once. The Chieftains struggled on the ground, combining for just 49 yards on 22 carries. Sommers led the way with 30 yards. Bernal and O’Neal led the Bears’ rushing attack with 57 and 41 yards, respectively. Overall, Turner gained 172 yards on the ground.

Tonganoxie will try to pick up its first win of the season at 7 p.m. Friday at Class 5A Lansing. The Chieftains have won their last two meetings with the Lions, who fell to 0-2 last week with a 13-0 loss to Basehor-Linwood.

“We’re trying to grow people into some positions, and I thought we had some younger kids step up,” Troyer said. “We just have to build on that.”

Score by quarters

TON 2 7 0 6 — 15

TUR 0 0 21 7 — 28

First quarter

TON — Safety, 6:07

Second quarter

TON — Greg DeVeau 7 pass from Carl Hecht (Kendall Parsons kick), 3:34

Third quarter

TUR — Darnell Miller 73 kick return (Tony Kline kick), 11:47

TUR — Ryan O’Neal 5 run (kick failed), 5:55

TUR — Santino Bernal 3 run (O’Neal run), 2:55

Fourth quarter

TUR — Vincent John 1 run (Kline kick), 7:36

TON — Jared Sommers 7 pass from Hecht (kick failed), 3:52

Rushing

TON: Jared Sommers 11-30, Kendal Parsons 5-9, Conner Brown 2-5, Carl Hecht 2-3, Ryan Musick 2-2; TUR: Santino Bernal 16-57, Ryan O’Neal 7-41, Kason Clark 8-34, Vincent John 9-17, Ricardo Yanez 3-11, Darnell Miller 2-6, Andre Jackson 1-6.

Passing

TON: Carl Hecht 18-30-1 178; TUR: Santino Bernal 3-6-0 42.

Receiving

TON: Kyle Burge 6-80, Jared Sommers 8-49, Greg DeVeau 3-47, Kendall Parsons 1-2; TUR: Jordan Martin 2-35, Andre Jackson 1-7.