Ottawa ? Ottawa High football coach Pat Boeh already had watched his Cyclones pay the price against Paola’s powerful ground game earlier in the year.

He didn’t need an encore.

But that’s exactly what the Panthers provided Tuesday in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs, rushing for 304 yards in a 21-0 victory against the Cyclones at Steve Grogan Stadium.

“They were just a good, hard-nosed football team,” said Boeh, whose 5-5 team gave up nearly 500 rushing yards to 6-4 Paola in a 41-32 loss in Week Three.

Really, that’s all the game came down to: Paola running the ball, and Ottawa missing out on two scoring opportunities deep in Panther territory during the first quarter.

Ottawa recovered a Paola fumble on the Panthers’ opening possession on Paola’s 26-yard line. But the Cyclones turned the ball back over on downs four plays later.

Ottawa then intercepted Panthers quarterback Steve Kemplay on Paola’s second possession. Four plays later, Cyclone quarterback Gabe Sheffield was picked off by Paola.

That was the closest the Cyclones came to scoring.

Paola pounded the ball on the ground the rest of the way. The Panthers racked up 15 first downs on 57 carries and controlled the Cyclones on both lines of scrimmage.

Kemplay and running backs Nathan Payne, Brad Page and Darin Domnanish accounted for a 16 play, 80-yard scoring drive that culminated with Payne, who rushed for 93 yards, scoring from a yard out a minute into the second quarter.

After taking another five-minute chunk off the game clock in the third quarter, Page, who ran for 109 yards Tuesday, took a pitch on a third-down play and sprinted 44 yards untouched for the score.

The final score came from Kemplay, who had been escaping Ottawa tacklers all night with his delayed handoffs and refusing to go down after initial hits. He flew out of the pocket for a 22-yard romp at the start of the fourth.

“We just tried to make sure we ran hard every play, because you don’t know what play will win the game,” said Kemplay, who rushed for 57 yards. “We have to play every down like it’s our last. I think that’s what our key was tonight.”

Paola 21, Ottawa

Paola (6-4) 0 7 6 8 Â 21

Ottawa (5-5) 0 0 0 0 Â 0

P Â Nathan Payne 1 run (Nelson Green kick)

P Â Brad Page 44 run (kick failed)

P Â Steve Kemplay 22 run (Page run)