Turnovers doom Tonganoxie

? The pass was mightier than the run Friday.

While Wamego High concentrated on connecting through the air, Tonganoxie showed the same commitment to the rush in the football season opener for both schools.

Wamego passed for 324 of its 414 yards of total offense. Tonganoxie gained 181 rushing yards, but completed just one of six passes.

For the Chieftains, though, four fumbles proved costly in a 32-12, loss to the Red Raiders.

“We played really well except for the turnovers,” THS coach Mark Elston said.

Defensively, both teams were stingy in the first half.

Wamego’s lone first-half score came on a seven-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Brady Herman to diving tight end Jay Fath with 7:17 left in the half.

The Red Raiders (1-0) threatened again after pinning Tonganoxie inside its own 1-yard line with a punt, but Wamego couldn’t punch in its second score before the half.

“Offensively, we didn’t get anything going,” Elston said of Tonganoxie’s first-half troubles.

After the half, Wamego passed its way to another score, this time on wide receiver Cameron Poe’s touchdown catch.

Down 14-0, the Chieftain defense looked to be having as much trouble as the offense.

Tonganoxie, though, wasn’t finished. THS staged a comeback with just less than three minutes remaining in the third. Senior Chuck Riddle picked off a Wamego pass and rumbled into Wamego territory. Tonganoxie’s running game finally started to gain momentum.

After a Wamego penalty, junior quarterback Justin Walker ran a keeper into the end zone on second and goal. The Chieftains missed the extra point, but the game had changed.

On the ensuing kickoff, Wamego bobbled the football and had to start its possession on its own 17. After forcing a punt, the Chieftains continued to gain momentum when Troy Morando returned the punt to the Wamego 24. On the next play, Walker again kept the ball, this time bouncing off two defenders on his way to the end zone to make it 14-12.

Wamego’s two-TD lead had been trimmed to two points thanks to Walker, who split time with Morando at quarterback.

“We were down 14-0 so we had to step it up,” Walker said.

Tonganoxie missed the two-point conversion on a tipped pass, and Wamego went off, scoring 18 fourth-quarter points.

“I was really impressed with the effort,” Elston said. “We’re not in as good of shape as we need to be.”

Wamego 32, Tonganoxie 12

Wamego 0 7 7 18 32

Tonganoxie 0 0 0 12 12

W Faith 10 run (Linder kick)

W Poe TD run (Linder kick)

W Kamble TD reception (kick blocked)

W Kamble TD reception (kick blocked)

W Patterson TD reception (kick blocked)

T Justin Walker 10 run (kick failed)

T Walker 24 run (pass failed)