District play opened for all area teams Friday night across the state and in Class 3A the Holton Wildcats used a 27-point third quarter to blitz Sabetha to a 41-17 victory.

The Cats wasted no time jumping out in front forcing a three-and-out on Sabetha’s opening possession and then needed just three plays to find the end zone with Jayden Fletcher opening the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Sabetha responded with a 30-yard field goal, but again Holton responded in a big way with Jace Boswell running 53 yards up the sideline for a score giving the Cats a 14-3 advantage with two minutes to go in the first quarter.

Both teams then traded punts and Sabetha got the football with five minutes before halftime desperately needing a score, and the Bluejays offense came through going on a 13-play drive scoring with just 20 seconds left in the half on a 7-yard throw from Matthew Garber to Tristan Wittwer.

Holton then got a big kick return and ran a couple plays before trying a 40-yard field goal .2 seconds on the first half clock, but Matt Lierz attempt hit the left upright giving the Cats a 14-9 lead at halftime.

The third quarter is when Holton took control as the Cats scored 27 unanswered points on a 5-yard run from Jayden Fletcher, a 3-yard run by Jace Hallhauer, a 34-yard run by Gary Booth, and an 86-yard scamper by Hallhauer.

Just like that the Cats had a 41-9 lead before you could blink.

Sabetha would get a late touchdown  from Jonathan Renyer following a well executed fake punt, but Holton just built too big of a lead.

Holton was dominant on the ground rushing for 506 yards averaging 13 yards per carry with three guys over 100 yards led by Fletcher who finished with 126 yards and two touchdowns. Booth added 121 yards and score and was named our Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha Player of the Game on KNZA while Boswell 72 yards and a touchdown, and Hallhauer 113 yards and two more scores plus a defensive interception. 

Sabetha finished with nearly 300 yard of offense but averaged just two yard per carry in the second half. Josh Herrmann led the Bluejays with 110 yards on the ground, while Matt Garber was 10-of-19 passing for 111 yards and a score.

Holton (4-0) now gets set for another road game at Royal Valley next week, while Sabetha (1-3) will have a tough road game at Rock Creek.