EFFINGHAM, Kan. — Atchison County Community High School was not supposed to win Friday against Holton.

In fact, the Tigers weren’t supposed to come within 10 touchdowns. Although the underdogs didn’t win, they weren’t about to let another team cover that kind of a spread on homecoming.

“We were 72.5-point underdogs, and we played our hearts out,” said ACCHS coach Terry Porter, whose team fell to the Wildcats 41-10. “I’m tickled for all my coaches, Cy Wallisch, John Wetig and Pat Kearney. They did a heck of a job. We really worked and schemed and felt that they were underestimating us. I’m just so proud.

“This is a game that we can springboard off of for the remainder of our season. We can win some ball games in the playoffs.”

ACCHS (0-5) actually had momentum in its favor for most of the first quarter.

After a blocked punt by senior Ethan Murz, the Tigers put together a seven-play, 72-yard drive on their opening possession, capped off by Austin Gibson’s 21-yard field goal.

ACCHS then forced the No. 5-ranked team in the state to its second straight three-and-out, and the Tigers advanced the ball all the way to the Wildcat 17-yard line.

“They were huge. They were like a college team,” Porter said of Holton. “We should’ve ended the quarter 3-0, and if not for a couple of mistakes led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.”

ACCHS fumbled the ball on the drive, and Holton recovered and never looked back.

The Wildcats, who used a no-huddle offense for most of the game — something that Porter and his squad hadn’t seen so far this year — scored on a 54-yard touchdown run by Jordan Mosely.

The Tigers failed to get much going on the offensive end after that, picking up just two first downs for the remainder of the game. In the meantime, the Wildcats intercepted three ACCHS passes and added touchdowns by Kaleb Smith, Dalton Harshaw and Gunnar McKenna — though not enough to cover the hefty spread.

The Tigers added one more touchdown late when quarterback Ben Hawk found Troy Wehking across the middle of the field for a 67-yard TD pass. On the defensive side of the ball, Murz added four sacks to go with his blocked punt.

“We have offensive and defensive player of the game, and there’s no doubt in my mind who the defensive player of the game is,” Porter said. “Ethan Murz really did some damage in the middle.”

Porter said Holton is by far the best and biggest team his squad will face all year, and by leading such a huge favorite, it wasn’t a bad game for ACCHS.

“It was a fun, fun game,” Porter said. “These guys are a much better ball club than what our record shows. We are not an 0-5 ball club at all. I couldn’t be more pleased. With all the hooplah and Holton and the 73-point underdog, our people have to feel good about it and our boys obviously feel good about it.”

The Tigers, no matter how much of an underdog, will look for their first win Friday at Nemaha Valley.

Sports reporter Hank Layton can be reached at hanklayton@npgco.com