Ottawa ? The victory was a little extra special for De Soto High.

After all, it was the Wildcats’ special-teams play that fueled their 28-12 victory Friday at Ottawa.

First, senior Jon Hastings blocked a punt late in the second quarter that led to a one-yard touchdown run by Dylan Burford to put De Soto in front, 7-6, at the half. Then early in the third quarter, Burford returned a punt 65 yards to set up another touchdown — a three-yard pass from Logan Clark to Gabe Hamilton.

And Burford wasn’t done yet. Later in the quarter, one play after his 30-yard punt return, Jeff Bowen broke tackles and scored down the right sideline on an 18-yard run, pushing De Soto’s lead to 21-6.

And finally, the “hands team” snuffed out an Ottawa onside kick late in the fourth, preserving De Soto’s victory.

“The special teams were outstanding having big plays” De Soto coach Tom Byers said. “You’ve got a weapon back there like Dylan, and we talked about it all week. We felt we could return the ball against them. Our kids did a great job of pressuring them up front and making them have to protect. And that frees up some time, too, to let Dylan create some space. Give him a little space, and you see what happens.”

Hastings also recovered a fumble on Ottawa’s opening drive in the second half.

“That just comes with great hustle,” Hastings said. “If you run around and you’re always working hard, then you’re going to be around the ball and be there. I think a lot of our kids on the team do that. I just get lucky sometimes.”

De Soto (2-4) will travel Friday to St. James.

De Soto 28, Ottawa 12

De Soto 0 7 14 7 — 28

Ottawa 6 0 0 6 — 12

O — Evan Mietchen 12 pass from Corbin Goedert (kick fail)

D — Dylan Burford 1 run (Josh Pasley kick)

D — Gabe Hamilton 3 pass from Logan Clark (Pasley kick)

D — Jeff Bowen 18 run (Pasley kick)

O — Mike Dunlap 8 pass from Goedert (conversion failed)

D — Logan Clark 1 run (Pasley kick)

Tonganoxie 40, St. James Academy 28

Tonganoxie — Down seven points in the fourth quarter, Tonganoxie High’s defense stepped up, refusing to let St. James Academy back in the end zone, and the Chieftains scored 19 unanswered points for a nonconference victory.

A five-play, 76-yard THS scoring drive that tied the game at 28 with 8:35 left was capped by a 14-yard sweep for a touchdown from THS senior D.J. Lindsay.

The Chieftains (5-1) then forced the Thunder (4-2) to a three-and-out possession as sophomore Jonas Myers pressured SJA quarterback Jim Getto into a third-down incompletion.

Two plays later, Tonganoxie took the lead for good on a 62-yard run from junior quarterback Jeremy Carlisle.

Carlisle finished the evening with 20 carries, 159 yards and four touchdowns. Senior back Jeremie Maus ran 10 times for 87 yards.

Junior Shawn Marin returned a kickoff 83 yards for a score in the third quarter.

Tonganoxie will travel Friday to Basehor-Linwood (5-1).

St. James Academy 7 7 6 8 — 28

Tonganoxie 14 0 7 19 — 40

T — Jeremy Carlisle 1 run (Amos White kick)

S — Ryan Ferguson 52 run (Logan Fortney kick)

T — Carlisle 27 run (White kick)

S — Bryan Eisman 11 pass from Jim Getto (Fortney kick)

S — Chase Jackson 1 run (Kick blocked by Jason Espeland)

T — Shawn Marin 83 kickoff return (White kick)

S — Jackson 1 run (Jackson pass from Getto)

T — DJ Lindsay 14 run (White kick)

T — Carlisle 62 run (Kick blocked)

T — Carlisle 4 run (Conversion failed)

Louisburg 28, Baldwin 0

Louisburg — Three straight turnovers to begin the night set the tone for Baldwin.

A pair of interceptions, one of which was caught in the end zone, and a fumble doomed the Bulldogs early.

Baldwin (0-6) stopped the Wildcats on their opening three possessions, but an interception in the end zone gave Louisburg a 7-0 lead. The Wildcats scored on two of their next possessions.

The Bulldogs’ offense struggled all night long. They only gained two first downs in the second half as their defense held Louisburg’s starters to seven points.

Baldwin will travel Friday to Santa Fe Trail.

Baldwin 0 0 0 0 — 0

Louisburg 7 14 0 7 — 28

L — Ashton Dover interception return (Chris Cook kick)

L — Alex Gentges 4 run (Cook kick)

L — Clayton Houchen 27 reception from Drew Harding (Cook kick)

L — Garrett Griffin 13 run (Cook kick)

K.C. Piper 34, Perry-Lecompton 14

Kansas City, Kan. — Jasper Sanders rushed for 143 yards and passed for 105 in Kansas City Piper’s victory over Perry.

Sanders had 20 carries and hit seven of 13 passes.

Jeremy Immenschuh completed nine of 21 passes for 100 yards for the Kaws.

P-L (1-5) will play host to Eudora on Friday.

Perry-Lecompton 0 14 0 0 — 14

K.C. Piper 14 7 13 0 — 34

KCP — Jasper Sanders 7 run (Nikita Brown kick).

KCP — Dustin Yanczi 13 pass from Sanders (Brown kick).

P-L — Trent Robb 2 run (kick blocked).

KCP — Ricco Thomas 5 run (Brown kick).

P-L — Jeremy Immenschuh 10 run (Luke Kellum pass from Immenschuh).

KCP — Thomas 4 run (Brown kick).

KCP — Thomas 5 run (kick blocked).

Anderson County 35, Wellsville 26

Wellsville — Fred Wiedner had 10 carries for 161 yards and scored a pair of TDs for Wellsville (3-3).

Anderson County 20 8 7 0 — 35

Wellsville 6 0 6 14 — 26

W — Fred Wiedner 80 run

W — Dalton Hughes 20 run

W — Vince Reyburn 1 run

W — Wiedner 23 run.

Anderson County scoring not available

Oskaloosa 55, Doniphan West 28

Oskaloosa — Brandon Barnes rushed for 159 yards and scored six touchdowns for Oskaloosa. Mark Newell added 100 yards rushing.

Doniphan West 8 0 14 6 — 28

Oskaloosa 16 20 13 6 — 55

O — Mark Newell 37 run (Brandon Barnes run)

O — Barnes 1 run (Newell run)

DW — P.D. Simmons 60 run (Keaton Blevins pass from Simmons)

O — Mitch Boucher 46 pass from Adam Bowser (Barnes run)

O — Barnes 11 run (PAT failed)

O — Barnes 6 run (PAT failed)

DW — Blevins 6 run (PAT failed)

O — Barnes 80 kickoff return (Cody Green kick)

DW — Brett Dunlap 16 run (Ben Lock pass from Blevins)

O — Barnes 7 run (PAT failed)

DW — Mason Rush 40 pass from Simmons

O — Barnes 31 run

Gardner-Edgerton 26, Eudora 0

Eudora — The Cardinals fell to 4-2.

Eudora will travel Friday to Perry-Lecompton.

Eudora 0 0 0 0 — 0

Gardner-Edgerton 0 7 12 7 — 26

G — Brett Jensen14 run (Chris McKenzie kick)

G — Ryan Weber 33 run (kick failed)

G — Tyler Stubler 6 pass from Bubba Starling (run failed)

G — Justice Berry 31 pass from Starling (McKenzie kick)