Photo Credit: Justin Flor/PrepsKC 
When the road team takes an early lead in a playoff game, it can become second nature for the home team to play a little tight and not be at its best. Piper wasn’t about to fall into that hole, though, in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs against Tonganoxie. The Pirates scored 28 unanswered points after the Chieftains got on the board first to advance to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs with a 35-14 victory.
“To come home and get our first win (in the playoffs) is big. They’re a really good team,” Piper coach John Black said. “They’re very physical. In the first quarter, they scored first. It makes it tough because it makes you nervous. But guys stepped up. Our O-line did a great job tonight.”
The Chieftains put the pressure on the Pirates early with their passing attack. Sophomore quarterback Talon Langford connected with Isaiah Holthaus for a 43-yard touchdown pass to put the Chieftains on the board first with 2:20 to play in the first quarter.
“Talon and Isaiah keep working together. Talon just had to gain confidence,” Tongie coach Preston Troyer said. “He hadn’t had any sort of quarterback reps really until Week 2 after our starter went down against Basehor-Linwood. He stepped up and got a little bit better each week.”
The Chieftains had a chance to add to their lead after Langford came up with an interception on the ensuing drive. Holthaus hauled in a 46-yard catch on the very next play, but the possession ended with a missed field goal.
On the Pirates’ next drive, Piper quarterback Logan Ladish proved that he wasn’t about to be outdone when it came to getting it done through the air. Ladish showed off his arm strength when he threw a 48-yard touchdown strike to Colin Vigil to tie it up with 5:40 to go in the second quarter. The Piper quarterback then put Piper in front with 59 seconds left in the half when he found Mason L’Heureux over the middle for a 78-yard touchdown pass. Piper took the 14-7 lead into the locker room.
“We’ve worked week by week and just gained confidence,” Ladish said. “I know my receivers can make those catches and I know I can make those throws.”
The Pirates kept the pedal to the metal to begin the second half. Ladish broke free for a 45-yard run to give the Pirates the ball at the Tongie 11-yard line. Freddie Eskridge found pay dirt two plays later on an 8-yard TD run.
Piper continued to do a lot of damage on the ground throughout the second half. Miguel Martin burst up the middle for a 27-yard touchdown run with 1:49 remaining in the third pushed Piper’s lead to 28-7.
“The offensive line was doing its job. They were pushing,” Ladish said. “We just have that chemistry. We’ve all grown up together. I can trust every one of them, too. It wouldn’t have happened without my O-line.”
The Chieftains ended the Pirates’ run of 28 unanswered points when Langford punched it in from 2 yards out with 6:29 to play. However, Piper answered with a 2-yard score from Aaron Henson to go back up three scores with just under two minutes to go.
The Pirates improved to 6-3 on the season and will move on to play undefeated Chanute in the second round. Chanute upended Schlagle, 49-6, in its first-round contest. The Blue Comets are a very familiar opponent for Black, who coached at Independence prior to taking the helm at Piper this season.
“I coached against them the last three years. They’re a very good ball club,” Black said. “They have two of the best defensive ends that we’ve seen all year. Their D-ends are incredible, and their middle linebacker is phenomenal. He’s also a state wrestler and one of the best running backs I’ve ever seen. It’s going to be a tough game for us, but we’re going to get focused and ready to play.”
The Chieftains’ season came to a close with a record of 4-5. With only five seniors that are graduating in the spring, Troyer has plenty of reason to believe that the future of the Tongie program is bright.
“We played a lot of young guys and they battled,” Troyer said. “We battled every game and I thought we gave it everything we had tonight. We just came up a little bit short, but I thought we did a great job.”
