Holton 63, Sabetha 6

It was a slow start for the Wildcats in their first home game of the season Friday.  Sabetha recovered an opening onside kick and drove for a 29 yard field goal to take the early 3-0 lead.  After Holton took a sack on their first offensive play, the second snap of the night kicked off an incredible performance by senior, Brendan Hampton who ran 84 yards for his first of four touchdowns on the night and Holton never trailed again.  The Wildcat defense forced a three-and-out and then capped a 9 play 55 yard drive with a Hampton 5 yard score to make it 14-3.  Sabetha drove 12 plays with a trio of impressive third down conversions before settling for another field goal (25 yards) to pull within 14-6 early in the second quarter.  Holton then took control and scored the final 49 points of the week three contest.

Ethan Holaday had a six-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Aeschliman, Indie Allen ran a two yard score and then :25 before halftime, Hampton broke free again with a 55 yard TD run to make it 35-6 at the break.  Hampton finished his offensive night with a 28 yard touchdown in the third quarter and totaled 257 yards on just 13 carries while also connecting on all 9 extra point attempts for the Wildcats.  Hampton easily won the Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha "Player to Bank On" in the game.  Sophomores, Will Wright, Justin Pool and Jonah Lutz all added rushing touchdown as Class 4A #1 Holton improved to 3-0 and won their 35th straight Big 7 League contest (78 of 79).  

The Wildcats totaled 568 rushing yards as a team with 26 first downs on 65 plays.  Andrew Rieschick had 50 yards on 8 carries before leaving the game with a shoulder injury.  Allen had 41 rushing yards while Holaday added 56, Lutz with 59 and Mason Barta with 34 yards.  

Sabetha's new spread offense racked up 113 of their 184 total yards through the air, but only managed one first down in the second half.  Gaven Schumann was 14 of 37 passing and did not turn the ball over.  Alex Edelman had 3 catches for 37 yards, Jacob Frey caught 3 balls for 19 and Keegan Schumann had 17 yards on 3 catches while adding 58 yards on 14 rushing attempts.  Alex Kirwan was good on both field goals before Sabetha fell to 0-3 on the season.