The Kirksville Tigers took the ball away from Warrenton four times in the third quarter and turned all four turnovers into points as the Tigers blew past the Warriors 56-20 in the first round of district play at Spainhower Field. The Tigers stumbled out of the gate Friday, taking the opening kickoff and just 11 seconds into the game quarterback Jaden Ballinger threw an interception which was returned 25 yards for a touchdown to give Warrenton an early 7-0 lead. But KHS tied the game at 7-7 on a 15 yard touchdown pass from Ballinger to Noah Copeland with 6:05 left in the first quarter. In the waning moments of the period, Kirksville took its first lead of the game 14-7 on a one yard run by Landon Yardley with 11 seconds left. Warrenton answered back early in the second, capping off an efficient drive with a 3 yard run by Quincy McRoberts making it 14-14. The Tigers would have three offensive possessions in Warrenton territory late in the second quarter and finally found paydirt on the third possession with a 42 yard pass to a wide open Brock Burchett with 1:44 to play. A furious goal line stand by the Tiger defense with time running out in the second ended with a Tiger interception at the Kirksville nine yard line right before halftime. Then the third quarter, the fun really started. A fumbled punt return by Warrenton was recovered by Kirksville’s Jaylen Kent and the Tigers found the end zone on a three yard pass from Ballinger to Lane Feeney to give the Tigers a 28-14 lead with 7:13 to play. A 43 yard interception return by Clay Vice set up KHS on the Warrenton 2, and Yardley took it in for another score to make it 35-14 with 4:32 to go in the third. Warrenton had trouble picking up the ensuing kickoff and the ball was recovered by Kent again, and again the Tigers capitalized with a 3 yard run by Ballinger to make it 42-14 with 3:32 to play in the third. Just moments later, Ballinger intercepted Warrenton again, setting up a 38 yard scoring strike to Burchett to give the Tigers a comfortable 49-14 lead with 3:16 to play. Midway through the fourth, Ballinger atoned for the early pick six with one of his own, a 35 yard interception return to put the finishishing touches on Kirksville’s 56-20 victory. Overall, the Tigers took the ball away seven times, compared to just two turnovers for Kirksville. Ballinger finished 8 for 16 for 116 yards and four touchdowns. He ran the ball 16 times for 144 yards and a score. Defensively, Ballinger had 10 tackles and two interceptions. McRoberts ran for 111 yards for the Warriors before getting injured in the third quarter and the Warrenton offense struggled in his absence. KHS climbs to 6-4 on the year, assuring themselves of a winning season. The Tigers head down to Moberly in the Class 4 District 4 semifinals and will try to avenge a 27-0 loss at Moberly back on September 18th. District top seed Moberly got a first round bye, along with second seed Hannibal. Hannibal will take on Mexico Friday after the Bulldog’s 59-42 win over Fulton.