Holton 35, Sabetha 14

Coming off a week one home loss against Nemaha Central, the Holton Wildcats jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead against visiting Sabetha on Friday night. And although the home team won by the 21-point margin, Sabetha was a couple inches short of having the ball and all the momentum in a single score game midway through the third quarter. Holton however barely converted on a fourth down and two leading 21-14 and posted the final two touchdowns of the night while running for 442 yards. 

"I felt like we got punched and we didn't counter and punch back in the first half," Jays Coach Garrett Michael said at halftime. "I really want to see this teams heart and pride to start this second half."  

The Bluejays answered and drove 70 yards on 6 plays to start the third quarter and a 30-yard pass from Matthew Garber to Preston Michael set up a four-yard TD run by Josh Hermann to make it 21-6. Holton then fumbled the ensuing kick return and the Jays were back in the endzone four plays later with a two-yard run by Hermann and deflected two-point conversion pass caught in the endzone by center Dalton Rokey to make it 21-14. Holton then converted the huge fourth down at the Bluejays eight-yard-line before Jace Boswell scored his second touchdown of the night on the next play to make it 28-14 after three quarters. 

Sabetha had a fumble on their next possession that Holton scored on a short 27-yard-drive early in the fourth period and the Bluejays only ran three offensive plays in the fourth quarter. It was the fourth drive that Sabetha was held without a first down in the game, including a pair of three-and-outs to start the game. However on the Jays third possession they ran 16 plays and had goal-to-go at the Holton seven-yard-line but could not punch the ball across the goal-line in four plays and was stopped at the one when trailing 7-0 early in the second quarter.  

Big plays were a huge advantage for Holton in the contest as Holton had four rushes of more than 40 yards on way to 312 yards rushing in the first half. That included a 63-yard run by Garyson Booth on the first play of the night, but Holton's initial drive ended on downs at the Sabetha nine-yard-line. Booth had a huge night with 244 yards on just 13 carries, including a 43-yard TD that capped Holton's 99-yard drive after their goal-line stand in the second stanza. Jayden Fletcher added 61 yards and Matt Lierz ran for 62 but also found Jackson Bear for a 35 yard touchdown pass just 11 seconds before intermission to make it 21-0 before Holton improved to 1-1 on the season and will travel to Hiawatha in week three. 

Sabetha ran for 154 yards with Hermann having 81 of those on 24 carries. Garber was 8-13 for 77 yards passing with Michael registering 5 catches for 57 yards. The Jays totaled just 231 yards and fall to 1-1 on the season. They host Jeff West next week.