EFFINGHAM, Kan. — Before their bi-district game with Riley County, Atchison County Community High School coach Mark Smith said he saw a lot of his team in the Falcons.

Both love to keep defenses on their toes, whether or not a pass or a run is coming. Both teams play in brutal leagues. Both kicked it in gear when it counted most during district play.

But the Riley County thumped the Tigers 34-7 on Tuesday to end Atchison County’s season, and Smith wished there was a little more of the Falcons in his squad.

“They’re a great team, first of all. They’re going to go a long way,” said Smith, whose team accumulated just 42 yards of offense and one first down before sophomore Alex Thompson busted a 72-yard touchdown run with one minute left in the game. “They play in a tough conference, and so do we. But they have a lot of dangerous weapons.”

The Falcons (5-5) outgained ACCHS 171-12 in the first half, forcing five Tiger punts before halftime. Riley County forced three more in the second half before ACCHS was forced to try a fake punt to try and gain some momentum.

The Falcons weren’t having it.

“They match up with us in our skill positions and on our line — something I didn’t think would happen,” Smith said. “It happened.”

Atchison County’s first big highlight came right after Riley County stormed 61 yards down the field on its opening possession for a 14-yard TD run by Jake Eastes.

On the point-after kick, senior Clint Corpstein fought through the offensive line and blocked it.

A big kick return by fellow senior Logan Coder on the kickoff was another highlight, but Coder never returned after pulling a muscle — and the one point that could-have-been didn’t come close to deciding the game.

Atchison County tried the fake punt on their second possession, snapping the ball directly to Dustin Feldman on fourth-and-eight.

Although it didn’t earn a first down, the Tigers were able to force a Riley County punt on the ensuing Falcon drive.

“Our defense played better in the second half, and we held them a few times. Our defense played OK — even though the score doesn’t dictate that,” Smith said. “There are a lot of Ifs and stuff like that, but the truth is we threw too many interceptions, couldn’t establish the run game and our defense, in spite of playing well, let them loose on a couple of plays.”

With the reserves in the game, Thompson provided the one score when he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage before busting it to the outside, shed another tackler and fired by the Riley County secondary to pay dirt.

The PAT by senior Logan Enzbrenner was good, and Atchison County was able to close the season on a high note — albeit in a tough loss.

Smith couldn’t help but look ahead to 2010 in a new league with 2009, his first season at ACCHS in the books.

“From this point on, I’m trying to get ready for Troy,” said Smith of next year’s season-opening game against the Trojans. “That’s my focus.”

Valley Falls 40, Troy 8

After a dramatic win the week before, the Trojans suffered a season-ending defeat against a more physical Dragons side.

Valley Falls quarterback Alex Lederer scored on the second play from scrimmage on a 64-yard run and soon tacked on another rushing score from 45 yards out to fuel the rout.

“They just ran over us,” Troy coach Tod Warner said. “They beat us front front. That’s was it.”

Less than a week before, the Trojans staged a dramatic comeback against conference and geographical rival Wathena in a 14-11 win. But the Dragons didn’t open the door for a similar result with a potent rushing attack.

Lederer racked up 168 yards on just nine carries, while running backs Chance Gier (87 rushing yards) and Tyler Wynkoop (57) helped Valley Falls pile up more than 300 yards on the ground and bolt to a 32-0 lead at halftime.

Kenneth Tharman scored the Trojans’ only touchdown in the second half and amassed more than 100 yards rushing but struggled to consistently move the chains in the bi-district loss.

“We had some long runs but we just couldn’t bust any of them,” Warner said.

In his first season as head coach, Warner said he believes Thursday’s game against the Wildcats took a toll on Troy.

“We were so emotionally drained from the Wathena game, drained because we worked so hard to get it,” Warner said.

Marysville 41, Sabetha 0

The Blue Jays fell victim to the high-powered Bulldogs’ offense and were shut out for just the second time all season — the first since a 26-0 loss to Nemaha Valley in Week 3.