One big hit later, any thoughts of a Grizzly comeback vanished into the night.

Kipton Harder jarred the ball loose from Labette County running back Deontae Fields, and Owen Robbins recovered the fumble inside the 10-yard line. It was the first of three straight third-quarter turnovers by the THS defense, powering the Chieftains to a 48-6 win in Friday’s Class 4A playoff opener at Beatty Field.

The fumble recovery halted any momentum the Grizzlies had started to build before half with a 60-yard double pass on a receiver screen. That set up their only points of the night on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Wyrick to Nolan Nash.

“They kind of caught us off guard. We should have been prepared for that,” said Tonganoxie coach Preston Troyer. “Anything like that, it gives us motivation to keep focused. I look at it as an opportunity to watch film and kind of clean things up.”

Following the turnover, the Chieftain offense capped off a 92-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by Blake Riedel. The defense recovered another fumble on the ensuing Labette County drive, then THS quarterback Hudson Myers connected with Jack Reischman on a 7-yard touchdown pass.

The dominant third quarter continued with a Harder interception, then a running clock went into effect after a 36-yard touchdown by Riedel – his third rushing score of the night. The Chieftain defense recovered one more fumble on the final Grizzly drive, punctuating the win with its fifth forced turnover of the night.

Reidel finished with 157 yards on the ground, pacing a Tonganoxie ground game that averaged better than 8 yards per carry. Bodee Maslak added 50 yards and 2 touchdowns.

In total, six different Chieftains recorded at least two carries in the win.

“We’re just trying to keep people fresh,” Troyer said. “The deeper we go (in the playoffs), the better the teams we play on each side of the ball, so we know it’s important to have fresh guys.”

Jim Mitchell photo

Myers complemented the stout rushing attack with 123 passing yards and two touchdowns, both to Reischman.

THS set the tone early when Paxton Summers intercepted Wyrick on the Grizzlies’ opening drive, then Myers hit Reischman over the middle for a 49-yard touchdown on Tonganoxie’s first offensive play. The Chieftains then added three rushing touchdowns to jump out to a 27-0 lead before LCHS scored in the final minute of the second quarter.

THS will travel Friday to Louisburg for a second-round playoff matchup. The Wildcats, 48-15 winners against Bonner Springs in their playoff opener, handed the Chieftains a 21-7 loss in both teams’ season opener on Sept. 4.

“We’re going to treat it like they’re a new opponent, basically,” Troyer said. “They’ve made adjustments and gotten better in certain areas, so we’re treating it like we haven’t faced them before.”

This week’s matchup will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday at Louisburg’s Wildcat Stadium. The winner will advance to next week’s quarterfinals, where it will face the winner of Sumner Academy and Ottawa.

THS 48, Labette Co. 6

Score by quarters

LCHS 0 6 0 0 – 6

THS 14 13 21 0 – 48

How they scored

First quarter

THS – Reischman 49 pass from Myers (Hileman kick), 7:45

THS – Riedel 3 run (Hileman kick), 4:33

Second quarter

THS – Maslak 3 run (Hileman kick), 9:00

THS – Riedel 1 run (kick failed), 5:01

LCHS – Nash 13 pass from Wyrick (run failed), 0:32

Third quarter

THS – Maslak 4 run (Hileman kick), 7:33

THS – Reischman 7 pass from Myers (Hileman kick), 5:41

THS – Riedel 36 run (Hileman kick), 3:44

THS statistics

Passing

THS – Myers 7-14-0 123, Maslak 3-3-0 43

Rushing

THS – Riedel 10-157, Maslak 8-50, Byrne 4-31, Witte 4-16, Summers 3-15, Stewart 2-0, Myers 1-(5)

Receiving

THS – Harder 5-51, Holthaus 3-59, Reischman 2-56