Coming off an exciting and exhilirating comeback victory (31-27) against McPherson, Holton knew the start of their 4A Sub-State game at #4 Mulvane would be critial.  The Wildcats of Holton jumped to a 14-0 lead and turned a dominating 21-0 halftime advantage into a 28-6 win on Friday night.  It was Holton's third straight win against a ranked opponent whom they had never faced on the gridiron, but the Cats defense put together another stellar effort against a spread attack, and shut down one of the state best offenses, including top quarterback and receiver tandem in Kansas.  

For the second week in a row, Holton completed just one pass, but it was huge.  After a Jaxon Wright to Trent Tanking 65 yard-strike for the game-winner with one-minute to go against McPherson last week, Holton passed on 4th down and 8 at Mulvane to cap their opening drive when Tyler Burdiek went up in the endzone and ripped down a Wright pass for a 19 yard touchdown.  It finished a 12 play, 54 yard drive and would be the only time Holton needed to pass.  The Wildcats forced a three-and-out defensively to start the game, then got an interception by Ethan Holaday.  That set up Holton's second possession, which needed just seven plays before Cameron Karn ran in a 19 yard score to put Holton ahead 14-0 with 1:46 to go in the opening quarter.  Holton did turn the football over for just the 9th time all season, but the Cats defense held Mulvane to just three first-downs and 80 total yard in the half.  Karn added another Holton touchdown on a six-yard-run in the second quarter to make it 21-0 at the break, and the visitors controlled the football for more than 16 minutes.

In the second half, Holton marched on a 9 and 14 play drive, but failed to finish with points on the board.  Karn finished his game by intercepting a Ty Reddington pass at and stummbled with leg cramps out of bounce at the 21 yard-line.  That set up Holton's final touchdown on a two-yard-run by Hunter Price.  Mulvane, in their first-ever sub-state appearance, was held under 200 total yards and got 69 of their final drive late in the fourth quarter, as Reddington hit Nolan Smith on a 38 yard touchdown pass with :32 remaining to avoid the shutout.  Mulvane ended their season with a 11-2 record and managed only 37 yard rushing, while Reddington was 13 of 22 for 161 yards to put him at 2,700 passing yard for the season and Alex Evans finished the year with 91 catches for 1,529 (4-34 in game).  Mulvane did not run a single play inside the Holton 30-yard-line. 

Holton churned out over 300 yards led by Karn, who had his fourth straight game over the century mark, and finished with 128 yards on 25 carries.  Chase Wilson added 75 yards on 19 carries and backups Lane Lassiter and Brendan Hampton each had 9 carries because the Wildcats were so banged up.  Lead runningback, Drake Ewing, missed the entire game with an injury and Trent Tanking only played defense and missed all the fourth quarter also with a back injury.  Karn and Wilson both both missed several plays while Burdiek came out a few times with a nagging hamstring injury and Holton was a hurting unit when the celebrated their second trip to the 4A State Championship in three years.  

Holton, who got two of their four defensive sacks from Jacob Ewing, stays perfect at 13-0 and will play in their sixth state title game under Coach Brooks Barta.  Holton is 2-3 in 4A Title games winning it all in 2003 and again with an undefeated record in 2005.  The Wildcats are set to battle Eudora (12-1) at 1:00 PM at Salina District Stadium with live coverage on 103.9 FM and online listen here