Tonganoxie High prepared for Friday’s football game against Perry-Lecompton like it was its only game this year.

The focus paid off, helping the Chieftains to a dominating 21-0 victory over the Kaws.

“This game was our season,” Tongie running back Daniel Volk said. “We had such a battle here last year, and we just wanted to come out and take care of business.”

Volk was referring to last year’s regular-season finale, which Tongie won, 24-21, in overtime. Thanks to Volk, this year’s contest was not as close.

Volk had 21 carries for 124 yards and scored all three of the Chieftains’ touchdowns.

“The offensive line, I owe everything to them,” Volk said. “I am nothing without them.”

The Chieftains moved to 7-0, while the Kaws fell to 5-2.

The Chieftains needed just eight plays and less than four minutes on their opening drive to score. Volk took a handoff from quarterback Jeff Hughes and ran straight up the middle, dodging Kaw defenders to score from nine yards out.

Volk added his second touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter, this time on a six-yard run.

Hughes did not get the big numbers that he had been putting up in recent weeks. Instead, the Chieftains had another 100-yard rusher in junior Kevin Gill, who ran for 129 yards on just 15 carries.

“They called us the three-headed monster last year, and we just brought it back this year,” Volk said. “Kevin played a lot on offense last year, and it really helped us out with him stepping up.”

Tonganoxie coach Mark Elston, prior to the contest, planned to shorten the game by running the football. Elston’s plan was effective in the first half, with the Chieftains controlling the pace in a half that was completed in nearly 45 minutes.

“They have been pretty potent on offense, and we wanted to keep the game pretty short,” Elston said. “We did not throw the ball a whole lot because we thought we could get it done on the ground.”

The Kaws’ offense was unable to get any consistency until their final drive, when it drove to the Chieftain 10. That drive ended when quarterback Caleb Denton threw his second interception of the night.

“We did not handle them up front very well,” Perry coach Mike Paramore said. “They took away some things that we like to do. Our kids kept battling, and we were able to put things together later in the game.”

The Chieftains had just one first down in the first half, and that come via a personal-foul penalty.

Denton was unable to run the ball effectively from the shotgun, rushing 13 times for 34 yards. He did not pass much better, going 4-of-13 for 48 yards.

Paramore said he was not sure if Denton was 100 percent.

“He is going to gut it up and play,” Paramore said. “He is not going to make excuses. They took him away, too. They had a nice defensive game plan.”

Tonganoxie 21, Perry-Lecompton 0

Tonganoxie 7 7 7 0 – 21

Perry-Lecompton 0 0 0 0 – 0

T – Daniel Volk 9 run (Jeff Hughes kick)

T – Volk 6 run (Hughes kick)

T – Volk 1 run (Hughes kick)