Tonganoxie High needed late scores to pull away from winless Ottawa, 31-13, Friday in the regular-season finale at Ottawa.

Tonganoxie led, 13-0, when Ottawa scored with 1.8 seconds left in the first half on a quarterback scramble.

Trailing, 13-6, in the third quarter, OHS scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass, as Ottawa’s Brandon Carlson was wide-open in the left corner of the end zone. With the extra point, but the upstart Cyclones tied the game.

Tonganoxie, though, scored three unanswered touchdowns on its way to the victory. It was Tonganoxie’s sixth-straight victory after starting the season 0-2.

THS scored first on a six-play, 25-yard drive with 7:27 left in the first quarter. The Chieftains went to the Wildcat on third and goal from the 7-yard line when senior Korbin Riedel scampered in for the touchdown. The Ethan Jacks PAT made it 7-0.

Ottawa threatened on its next possession, but senior Jessie Collyer picked off a pass on a third and 15 play from the Tonganoxie 18. Ottawa later had a lengthy drive that ended early in the second quarter when Tonganoxie blocked an Ottawa 29-yard field goal attempt. THS again was driving in the second quarter, but Riedel threw an interception out of the Wildcat.

Tonganoxie made it 13-0 when Drake Pray ran in a 6-yard touchdown score with 1:31 left before halftime. Ethan Jacks’ PAT was blocked and the scored stayed 13-0.

Ottawa then put together a drive of its won and capitalized when Ottawa scored on a third down from 7 yards out just before halftime.

After Ottawa tied the game at 13 in the third quarter, THS freshman Sam Kleidosty ran a kickoff return out to the Tonganoxie 46-yard line. The big run sparked the Chieftains, as THS scored on a 13-play, 54-yard drive that ended with junior Elijah Tyner scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run. Jacks’ PAT again was blocked, and Tonganoxie held on to a 19-13 lead.

Tonganoxie extended its lead to 25-13 with a Riedel 3-yard touchdown run with 10:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Hayden Robbins then sealed the game with a 40-yard interception return with 6:24 left in the game. THS attempted two-point conversions on its last two scores, but both failed with incomplete passes.

THS had 216 yards on the ground, but just 18 yards in the air.

Robbins went 2-for-11 on the soggy OHS field.

Junior Cole Sample led the defense with 13 tackles (five solo), while Pray had nine (two solo). Junior Cooper Cunningham and senior Jake Miller were next in line for tackles. Each had eight on the night (Cunningham with two solo tackles and Miller had four).

Cunningham also recovered a fumble, as Collier had two interceptions to complement Riedel’s two and Robbins’ pick 6. Also defensively, sophomore Dallas Bond registered two interceptions and junior Quinton Maggart one.

Playoff picture

Tonganoxie (6-2) will be the No. 6 seed in the 4A East bracket and will take on No. 11 Chanute (4-4).

Louisburg (8-0) is the No. 1 seed in the East bracket, while McPherson (8-0) has that distinction in the West bracket.

Frontier League title

Tonganoxie didn’t win a second consecutive league title this year, but it came close to doing so in two different conferences.

Tonganoxie finished in a second-place tie with Paola. Louisburg defeated PHS, 25-7, on Friday for the league title. LHS defeated Tonganoxie, 27-7, in Week 2. Tonganoxie won the final Kaw Valley League title last year and tried to duplicate the feat in a new league this year.

Riedel hits milestone

Korbin Riedel is a 1,000-yard rusher for 2018.

The senior hit the mark Friday at Ottawa thanks to his xxx-yard performance against the Cyclones.

He now has 1,043 yards and ranks No. 1 in 4A in rushing, according to maxpreps.com.

Riedel ranks No. 20 in the state. Minneola’s Jeremy Pfaff has 1,852 yards on the season.

Minneola’s Jeremy Pfaff leads the state in rushing with 1,852 yards, while Pawnee Heights’ Kade Scott is No. 2 with 1,586. Minneola is in 8-man Division II; Pawnee Heights plays 6-man football.

The leader among 11-man rushers is Douglass (2A) senior Zachary Dressler, who has 1,403 yards on the season.

Tackle leaders

Pray and Sample are tied for No. 10 with Piper’s Kaleb Brown for total tackles in 4A with 60, according to maxpreps.com.

Tonganoxie 31, Ottawa 13

Tonganoxie 7 6 6 12 — 31

Ottawa 0 6 7 0 — 13