Topeka High was tested last night, going on the road against one of the better teams in the state. The Trojans played a hard-fought game, but could not come out on top, losing a close one, 21-26.

“It was a great game,” head Walt Alexander, said. “We didn’t execute everything as well as we should have until certain situations, but that was a hard fought battle and we had our opportunities to win the game.”

Execution was the story of last night’s game, as Topeka High’s offense found scattered success. Senior quarterback Corey Thomas threw for 176 yards and one touchdown, but the Trojan running game never found it’s spark.

As a team, Topeka High averaged 2.2 yards per carry (YPC), compared to Junction City’s 7.1 average YPC.

“They’re [Junction City] a really great team, one of the best in the state,” Corey Thomas said. “But we didn’t execute on some plays.”

Even with Junction City’s dominant performance, Topeka High had many positives to take from this game, including a defense that came up with multiple red zone stops.

“Second half we had to come out better, be tougher on defense and take every chance we got,” Stephaun Carter, senior defensive back/running back, said. “I think that’s what we did.”

Just before the second half, Topeka High’s defense suffered a tremendous loss, as senior linebacker Hunter Holloman went down with a leg injury and had to be carted off.

“Man, that was crazy,” Carter said. “It was a big spark for us though. It just gave us that momentum that we needed to hold them to what we could.”

“It’s a part of football, part of sports,” Alexander said. “He’s hard to replace because he’s such a great player, and we’re just going to miss Hunter [Holloman]. That’s all I can say about that.”
Topeka High will player their first home game of the season next week against the Emporia Spartans at 7:00 p.m. at Hummer Sports Park.