Holton 24, Andale 14

Trailing 7-3 at halftime, the Holton Wildcats dominated the third quarter and pulled away in the second half for their 26th straight win.  In the undefeated clash of the top two 4A teams in the state, Holton went on three consecutive touchdown scoring drives to build a 24-7 lead.  Meanwhile the Wildcat defense held Andale twice on fourth and short plays and then got an interception by Brenden Hampton to seal the victory in the fourth quarter.  Andale managed only 105 yards and 5 first down in the second half (53 yards and 3 first downs came on their last drive in final minutes of the game) as Holton dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football.   

After forcing a three-and-out, Holton took an early 3-0 lead after marching downfield on 11 plays and getting a 28-yard field goal from Hampton.  Andale picked up their initial first down on the game on their third possession and scored on a five-yard run by Bo Knoblach to take a 7-3 advantage, and the Indians missed a 38-yard field goal try just before halftime.   

Drake Ewing gave Holton the lead for good with a five-yard TD run, capping a 10 play, 52 yard drive that took 4:11 off the clock right after halftime.  Holton had another short field after a stop on fourth and short and Hampton scored on a 14-yard run to cap a 9 play 41 yard drive to take control of the game with a 17-7 lead going into the final quarter.  Holton converted twice on fourth down and short and sustained drives with a trio of third down conversions, too.  Hampton put Holton ahead 24-7 with 7:29 left in the game when he broke a 55 yard touchdown run getting a great downfield block by Dylan Wheeler to finish a 77-yard drive.  Andale got the last score with 2:10 to play on a 20 yard pass from Jared Smarsh to Hunter Knoblauch, but could not recover the onside kick and never touched the ball again.  

Andale was only 5 of 14 passing for 66 yards and ran for 173 total in the game as the end their season 11-1.  Hunter Knoblauch had 70 yards on 12 carries while Smarsh ran for 71 yards on 11 carries, but Andale did not have a play for more than 20 yards and was 1-4 on fourth downs and 4 of 11 on third downs.     

Holton only had two penalties in the game and no turnovers, running for 346 yards and not needing to attempt a single pass in the Sectional Playoff contest.  Hampton led the ground game with 158 yards on 20 carries (11 for 114 in the second half) and a pair of scores, plus a field goal, interception and all three extra points to earn “Player to Bank On” honors sponsored by the Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha.  Ewing added 88 yards on 21 totes and a score while Andrew Rieschick and Ethan Holaday each had more than 40 yards rushing also.  The Wildcats converted on 8 third down plays and was 3-4 on fourth downs.    

Holton improved to 3-0 versus Andale and 11-1 in the playoffs against team from the AVCTL.  The Wildcats will travel to Buhler (11-1) for Sub State on Friday in another rematch from 2010, when Holton won at Buhler 41-0. Buhler’s one loss this year came against Andale (28-21) and the Crusaders topped Hayden 27-18 to advance to Sub-State.  Paola and Coffeyville are the other two teams still alive in the 4A Playoffs.

Holton and Andale are two of the premier programs in Division Two of Class 4A when the Class breaks into Divisions starting next year.  But a future Wildcat/Indian matchup would only be likely in a state championship game.