Tonganoxie played Frontier League opponent De Soto to a 7-7 tie through one quarter last Friday, but couldn’t find an answer for the Wildcats’ rushing attack in a 36-14 loss.

The Wildcats (2-2) got on the board first on a rushing touchdown by Justin Johnson with 9:07 left in the opening period. The Chieftains (0-4) answered with a scoring run from quarterback Carl Hecht late in the period, but that’s all the first-half points they could muster. De Soto retook the lead on a field goal by Cooper Lee early in the second, then Nate Thompson made it a two-possession game with a touchdown run just more than a minute later.

THS failed to answer before the break, and the Wildcats took a 17-7 lead into the locker room.

De Soto erased any thoughts of a Chieftain comeback with three third-quarter touchdowns by Jason Johnson — two on the ground and other through the air. His final score, which came on a 16-yard pass from Thompson, gave the Wildcats a 36-7 advantage. Tonganoxie’s Jared Sommers provided the game’s final points on a rushing touchdown with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter, but THS failed to mount any more of a rally.

THS struggled offensively against a Wildcat defense that has already pitched two shutouts this season. Hecht was just 9-of-24 passing for 126 yards and was intercepted once. THS coach Al Troyer said several incompletions were drops by receivers, including more than one at crucial points in the game.

“That’s just inexperience and having young kids out there,” he said. “They played hard-nosed defense. We struggled inside, which we knew we would.”

Hecht led the Chieftains’ ground game with 65 yards on 13 carries, and Sommers added 50 yards on 12 carries.

De Soto, on the other hand, gave THS fits on the ground, racking up 341 total rushing yards using a counter-option attack. Thompson threw just five passes in the contest, completing three for 29 yards.

“We stuffed the fullback like we planned, but the quarterback got loose several times,” Troyer said. “He did a great job and that’s what hurt us.”

THS will return to Kaw Valley League action this week when it hosts winless Bishop Ward at 7 p.m. Friday. The Chieftains have won their last five meetings with the Cyclones, who fell to Piper last week, 61-8.

Friday’s game is one of just two remaining on the THS schedule before the start of district play. The team will wrap up its non-district schedule next week at Bonner Springs.

“(A win on homecoming) would be huge,” Troyer said. “(Ward) has some athletes in the secondary that are pretty decent. We need some confidence going into that Bonner game and to slingshot us into our district.”

Score by quarters

DHS 7 10 19 0 — 36

THS 7 0 0 7 — 14

First quarter

DHS — Justin Johnson run (Cooper Lee kick), 9:07

THS — Carl Hecht run (Kendall Parsons kick), 3:37

Second quarter

DHS — Cooper Lee field goal, 9:56

DHS — Nate Thompson run (Lee kick), 8:35

Third quarter

DHS — Jason Johnson run (Lee kick), 9:52

DHS — Jason Johnson run (conversion failed), 2:58

DHS — Jason Johnson pass from Thompson (conversion failed), 1:53

Fourth quarter

THS — Jared Sommers run (Parsons kick), 9:59

Rushing

THS: Carl Hecht 13-65, Jared Sommers 12-50, Ryan Musick 6-20, Zac Morgan 3-6.

Passing

THS: Carl Hecht 9-24-1 126.

Receiving

THS: Jared Sommers 4-53, Kyle Burge 2-49, Greg DeVeau 1-11, Ryan Musick 1-10, Michael Mast 1-3.