HOLTON ? Tonganoxie High senior Bryan Morris screamed out the school’s letters as the football team conducted its usual postgame jumping-jacks routine, but that calisthenics tradition would serve as the final one for the Chieftains’ 12 seniors.

Defending Class 4A state champion Holton ended Tonganoxie’s 2006 season, defeating the visiting Chieftains, 20-0, in the first round of this year’s 4A playoffs.

“It’s disappointing,” Chieftains senior quarterback Jeff Hughes said. “Nobody wants to end their career on a loss.”

The game’s final margin was deceptive. The Chieftains only allowed 97 rushing yards in the first half. If not for two errant snaps by Tonganoxie, the score may have stood at 0-0 going into halftime.

Kevin Gill, Tonganoxie’s usual long snapper, hurt his knee early in the first quarter, forcing senior Zeb Kissinger to fill in.

“That put a wrench in things,” Tonganoxie coach Mark Elston said.

During Tonganoxie’s second offensive series, Kissinger fired a ball over Hughes’ head, resulting in a safety. The Wildcats’ other score of the first half came when a bad snap resulted in a blocked punt. That gave Holton the ball on Tonganoxie’s four-yard line, and Aaron King ran it in on the next play, giving Holton an 8-0 lead.

King represented part of Holton’s impressive rushing triumvirate. Although Tonganoxie (9-1) sacked quarterback Kyle Porter in the third quarter before he could drop back, Holton (10-0) never passed during the game. The Chieftains even concocted a new defensive alignment, placing an extra linebacker and defensive lineman on the line of scrimmage.

That scheme held Holton in check for a half.

Tonganoxie's D.J. Gray (40) finds some running room against the Holton defense. The Chieftains put together a few decent drives but could never find the end zone in a 20-0 loss Tuesday night in the opening round of the Class 4A state playoffs.

“We did a pretty good job defending them,” said Hughes, who also plays defensive back. “We threw in a new defense in three days, and I thought we did a good job considering.”

But in the second half, Holton’s massive offensive line wore down the Chieftains’ smaller defensive line. King finished the game with 100 yards on 18 carries, Madison Morris had 91 on seven and Matt Brock had 75 on 15.

“Law of physics,” Elston said, “290 (pounds) vs. 210.”

Down 8-0 at the end of the third quarter, Tonganoxie tried to convert a fourth-and-three inside the Holton 40-yard line, but Holton sacked Hughes. The Wildcats scored on the next play as Morris raced down the sideline for 69 yards, giving Holton a 14-0 lead.

“The gamebreaker was probably that long run,” Elston said. “That one was hard to overcome.”

Holton fullback Matt Brock scored Holton’s last touchdown of the game to culminate a grind-it-out, 18-play, 80-yard drive.

“That last drive there,” Elston said. “That’s why they’ve won 24 in a row. You can’t stop them when you know where they’re going.”

After that score, Hughes guided Tonganoxie to Holton’s three-yard-line, but the Wildcats stopped him on fourth-and-goal and took over possession with less than 45 seconds remaining.

Hughes rushed 18 times for 77 yards and completed 3 of 8 passes for 41 yards and an interception in another gutty performance – his last with the Chieftains. Before boarding the bus, Hughes – his eyes still red from postgame tears – hugged his parents.

“You can always look in a kid’s eyes on their last game and see what the program and what the team meant to them,” Elston said. “He spilled his guts tonight.”

Tuesday’s game represented a Class 4A slugfest apropos for a state championship title, but the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s quirky playoff format made it a first-round matchup. Elston, however, took the scheduling in stride.

“I wish this would’ve been the third week of November,” he said. “But you’ve got to beat (Holton) at some point if you want to get by them.”

Losing to a difficult opponent did not make the game any easier for the Tonganoxie players who put on their pads for the last time.

“You feel bad for them,” Elston said. “I’ll be back next year and so will the coaches. Those poor seniors, they don’t get to come back.”

Holton 20, Tonganoxie 0

Holton 2 6 6 6 – 20

Tonganoxie 0 0 0 0 – 0

H – Safety, snap out of end zone

H – Aaron King 4 run (kick failed)

H – Madison Morris 69 run (kick failed)

H – Matt Brock 1 run (kick failed)