Perry ? De Soto and Perry-Lecompton high schools pride themselves on playing tough, run-it-up-the-gut football.

Friday night, though, De Soto played it better.

The Wildcats cruised to a 28-0 rout of the Kaws in the district opener for both teams.

“We were just clicking … four, five, six yards a pop,” De Soto coach Brad Scott said. “That’s the way we like the offense to go.”

The Kaws (3-4), who have pushed around teams this year, like Santa Fe Trail, became the pushed. De Soto (6-1) used a bigger, stronger wall of linemen to control the tempo on both sides. Linemen Adam Faircloth, Brian Rodd, Luke Krehbiel, David Hall, Pat Burton and tight end Alex Mercer formed a juggernaut up front that simply muscled the Kaws out of the way.

“They made the blocks,” said De Soto sophomore running back Tyler Farmer. “They just dominated on the line.”

Big holes led to big runs by three players who have proven to be one of the deadliest trios in the area. Farmer had the most productive evening with 184 yards and two touchdowns off 17 carries, followed by quarterback Neil Erisman with 79 yards and two touchdowns and fullback Leif Goleman with 62 yards.

“The line went to work,” Erisman said. “They let us do what we’re supposed to do in the backfield. They cleared the holes, and we ran through them.”

With such strong support from the line, the Wildcats darted to the end zone. Out of their three scoring drives, the longest lasted about three minutes; the other two lasted about three seconds. De Soto capped the evening with a 75-yard run by Farmer with about a minute left in the fourth quarter.

Three turnovers in the first half made matters worse for the Kaws. The Wildcats turned all three mishaps into touchdowns.

“Turnovers always kill, and they killed tonight,” P-L coach Mike Paramore said. “You can’t turn the football over against a good football team.”

Although its running game sputtered, Perry’s passing attack flourished against the vaunted De Soto secondary. Unfortunately for the Kaws, most of the success for quarterback Zach Hefner came when the game was out of hand.

Hefner finished 9-for-14 with 137 yards and one interception. Kaws receiver Daniel Hemme had a highlight-reel night with eight receptions for 127 yards.

De Soto will travel to Tonganoxie on Friday, while Perry-Lecompton will play host to Bonner Springs.

Notes:

D — Neil Erisman 4 run (Austin Bills kick)

D — Erisman 1 run (Bills kick)

D — Tyler Farmer 10 run (Bills kick)

D — Farmer 75 run (Bills kick)