Holton 34, Royal Valley 6

It was a game of two halves on Friday night between Jackson County and Big 7 League rivals as Holton used a 28 point blitz in the third quarter to pull away from a 6-6 halftime tie and clinch another district championship.  It was the fourth straight win for the Wildcats who will make their 18th straight playoff appearance on Friday night November 6th versus Osawatomie in a rematch from a year ago.  

A constant rain soaked the Holton field and limited both teams to just three first half possessions on offense.  Royal Valley ran 12 more plays and outgained Holton but could only score on one of three trips inside the Holton 30 yard line.  The Panthers opened the scoring on the first play of the second quarter as Noah Hart ran in a six yard touchdown to cap a 12 play, 89 yard drive.  Holton answered on the ensuing drive as Mason Barta broke several tackles and bear crawled out of a pack of defenders to outrun the Royal Valley defense on a 60 yard score.  That accounted for nearly half of Holton's first half offense.  The game stayed tied, despite another 13 play drive by the Panthers to the Holton 14 yard line late in the second quarter.

Holton opened the third quarter with another long, tackling breaking, 65 yard touchdown run by Barta and after the Holton defense forced a three-and-out, Justin Rieschick returned a punt 43 yards for another score.  Royal Valley fumbled their next offensive play and Barta capatilized with a 20 yard TD run to make it 27-6 and give the Wildcats 21 points in a three minute stretch.  After another three-and-out by the Wildcat defense, Justin Pool scored on an eight yard run to finish the Holton third quarter blitz and cap a nine play, 50 yard drive.  

Barta was the Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha, "Player to Bank On," with 184 yards on just 11 carries and three scores while also making several key stops on defense.  Holton, now 6-3 after winning 6 of their last 7 games, ran for 342 yards and averaged 10 yards per play in the second half.  

Royal Valley managed only three first downs in the second half and 48 yards on 24 plays before ending their season with a 6-3 record.  Derrick Barger ran for 149 yards on 33 carries and finished his senior season with more than 1,500 yards.  It was the best Royal Valley football season since 2010 under second year Coach Jake Lott, but the Panthers could not stop the momentum swing in the third quarter as the game got away and Perry lost to Jeff West to keep the Panthers out of the post-season.    

Holton played with a lot of confidence and swagger in the third quarter, sparked by big blocks and stops in the backfield by the lineman.  Brandon Lennherr and Brandt Rose were named Co-Lineman of the Game, sponsored by the Denison State Banks, after both players battled through injuries but have returned to form a solid front line for the Wildcats down the stretch.  The Holton defense have held their last four opponents to just one score and Friday was the 199th win for Holton 20th year Coach, Brooks Barta.    

Both teams did fumble twice in the second half as field conditions and constant rain played a huge factor.  

Jeff West beat Perry Lecompton to advance as the District Runner up, and will play at Santa Fe Trail, who upset Osawatomie on Friday night and beat the Tigers 26-12 in a first round playoff game last season. The Big 7 League also has undefeated Nemaha Central is the playoffs against Riverside and Sabetha hosting Centralia in Bi-District action on Tuesday night.