It may have been a new season in the new Big East League with Sabetha having a new head coach; however it was the same ol' slugfest and ball control battle between the Bluejays and Wildcats to open the 2024 campaign. In a game that featured only one total play of greater than 14 yards, both offenses got eight total possessions and both teams capitalized and scored a touchdown in their lone red zone opportunities. Yet, Sabetha made their extra point after early second quarter score and Holton missed what turned into a 30-yard extra point on the opening drive of the second half after their first two successful PAT attempts were wiped off because of consecutive five-yard false start penalties. At the end of the night, nobody felt better than Kaleb Moeller, who got a big 7-6 road win in his Sabetha head coaching debut after serving the previous 10 years as a Bluejay assist.

With both teams state ranked to start the season after making it to Sub-State last year, Sabetha certainly had a few more question marks with only a couple starters returning. Sabetha's touchdown came on their third drive of the game after they stopped Holton on fourth down and short at midfield. Returning senior quarterback Mitchel Kramer hit Kyler Wenger down the sideline for a 32 yard pass, which was the game's longest play and then Cole Menold ran in a touchdown a few plays later from seven yards out. Jayton Meyer kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 with 10:23 left in the second quarter. The Bluejays didn't have any other drives that went inside the Holton 30-yard-line. 

Holton's first possession of the contest started at the Sabetha 37 after Bodie Dillon intercepted a deflected Sabetha pass. However, the Wildcats ran four plays and could not pick up a first down to capitalize. Holton had a kickoff return by Alec Frazer to midfield following Sabetha's touchdown, but quickly went three-and-out and then Holton tossed a redzone interception late in the first half as Sabetha's Brody Deters picked off a throw into triple coverage over the middle of the field. 

Holton however came out of halftime and drive 72 yards on 11 plays getting their touchdown on an option pitched from Dillon to Logan Altenburg on a 14-yard-play, which was the Cats longest play from scrimmage all night. The final three possessions for Holton in the game however ended at the Sabetha 35, 25 and 38 yard lines after the Bluejays make continuous stops on fourth down to beat Holton for the second straight year.

Sabetha was very balanced with 135 rushing yards and returning senior quarterback Mitchel Kramer going 8-15 passing for 80 yards. Cole Menold had a big night on both sides of the football and led the Bluejays with 71 yards on 18 carries, including his seven-yard touchdown run. Landon Meyer added 41 yards on 10 carries and Kyler Wenger caught five passes for 59 yards. Sabetha had some early penalty problems and ended the game with 8 flags for 50 yards before improving to 1-0. They will host Perry Lecompton (0-1) in their Big East home opener next week.  

Holton was 0-4 passing the football and ran for 224 yards. Kyler Jackson paced the Wildcats with 87 yards on 19 carries, while fullback Cael Frazier added 47 yards on 11 totes and Logan Altenburg racked up 41 yards on 7 carries. Korban Wilson also had 37 yards on his 8 touches and Holton only had four penalties for 25 yards, but two of those proved costly which took the tying PAT off the board on back-to-back snaps and ultimately was the difference in the game. Holton will travel to face new Big East foe Riley County (1-0) in week two.