Holton Rolls Rock Creek to Win District Title
Holton 41, Rock Creek 21
While the Holton offense ran for 514 yards and scored touchdowns on six of their first seven possessions, it was a goal-line stand and an interception on defense that allowed the Wildcats to maintain a comfortable lead and go on to win the District 4 title at Rock Creek. After the Cats scored on the first drive of the game, the :Mustangs tried to answer, but on fourth down and goal inside the one-yard-line, Garyson Booth made a tackle in the backfield to protect a 7-0 lead and six plays later, quarterback Matt Lierz capped a 96-yard drive with a 47 yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. Still, Holton led by 21-6 with Rock Creek getting the football to start the second half, but Lucas Adcock jumped a pass an intercepted the Mustangs before the Wildcats scored on two quick drives to put the game away with a 34-6 lead.
Booth ran for a career high 215 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown while Lierz finiished with 136 yards on just 6 carries and scored twice as did Jayden Fletcher who added 110 yards on 13 totes. With a 30-yard touchdown pass play from Lierz to Charlie Gilliland, Holton racked up 544 yards of total offense, easily able to overcome 146 yards on 17 penalties to stay undefeated at 7-0.
Rock Creek, who also enterted at 3-0 in district play moved the football with a short passing game that produced 253 yards on 25-41 accuracy from quarterback Dalton Whitworth. Ethan Burgess had 124 yards on 11 catches while Whitworth also ran for 49 yards and a TD. The Mustangs drop to 4-3 overall this season despite 362 yards of total offense.
In a game that the refs struggled mightily with indecisiveness on several occasions, Rock Creek nearly got the ball back trailing 14-6 late in the second quarter. But a controversial call on a Jace Boswell carry on fourth down and two at the Mustangs 10-yard-line, was ruled a fumble forward for a first down before Booth punched in a 7-yard TD to make it 21-6 at the break.
Holton has already clinched their first Big 7 League title since 2014, but will try to finish it unbeaten with a senior night home game against Jeff West next week.
