Mighty Topeka Hayden too much for Tonganoxie

? The schedule said Tonganoxie High was supposed to play Topeka Hayden on Saturday night in the Class 4A football regionals.

But the team Tongie played looked a lot like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The uniforms were exactly the same, the players were huge, and even the Notre Dame fight song was played by the band.

Hayden also turned in a Notre Dame-like performance, shutting out Tonganoxie, 41-0, to advance to the state quarterfinals.

“We were overmatched,” Tonganoxie coach Mark Elston said. “Physically, there was only so much we could do.”

Hayden (11-0) put up 358 yards of total offense, almost all of which came before the starters were removed early in the fourth quarter. Running back Josh Torrez had 125 yards on the ground, including 78 in the first half. After the game, Elston called him one of the best backs he ever had coached against.

“We kept hitting him and hitting him, but we couldn’t pull him down,” Elston said. “He is a darn good football player.”

Things looked good early for Tonganoxie when its defense forced a three-and-out by Hayden on the opening series of the game, but that was the last time the Wildcats would have to punt until late in the third quarter.

On the Chieftains’ ensuing possession, Jeff Hughes had his punt blocked by John O’Grady, who picked up the ball and ran it back 10 yards for the first touchdown of the game.

Hayden made it 14-0 on its next drive when a miscommunication by the Tonganoxie secondary left Jeremy Harris uncovered. He streaked across the middle of the field on a slant pattern, caught a pass from quarterback Chris Dieker and could have walked into the end zone for the 28-yard score.

Dieker ran in a two-yard keeper late in the second quarter to give Hayden a 21-0 halftime lead.

Any thoughts Tonganoxie (9-2) had of a second-half comeback were eliminated when O’Grady struck again, taking the opening kickoff 95 yards into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 28-0 lead.

“We never kick it deep, and people wonder why,” said Hughes, who also is the team’s kicker. “That is why you don’t kick it deep. Something big like that can happen.”

The Hayden defense held Tonganoxie to 176 yards of total offense, including only 69 yards on the ground. The Chieftains had eight rushes for negative yards, and only six rushes were longer than five yards.

Hughes, who played all but one play, was 6-for-13 passing for 107 yards.

After losing its season opener by four points, Tonganoxie won nine games in a row before Saturday’s defeat.

“As far as the season is concerned, I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Elston said. “We improved dramatically.”