St. Pius X lit up the scoreboard early and often as it advanced in the Class 5 playoffs, 59-27, over Winnetonka on Friday night. 

The Warriors raced out to a 28-0 lead over the first 12 minutes with two touchdown runs by junior Cannon Cruse and touchdown passes from quarterback Jake Nichols to Brock Chisam and Charlie Ross. 

Winnetonka's first points didn't come until 9:28 of the second quarter on a 28-yard pass from Ryan Blaich to Kingston Peterson. 

"This is exactly what we talked about and why we played the schedule we did," Pius head coach Anthony Simone said. "Let's be dangerous when it matters. I feel like we've gotten ourselves to that point."

Following a Pius field goal, Winnetonka got its longest score of the night, a 78-yard pass from Blaich to Derrick Coleman. 

The Griffins chipped away and found themselves down just 11 with less than four minutes left in the third, but that was as close as Tonka got. 

Pius sophomore Kaden Locke punched it in just before the end of the third to make it 38-20.

Another Locke rushing score was followed by a Nichols TD pass to Mason Wright and the lead was up to 52-20 with less than six minutes to play. 

The Warriors (6-4) will face the defending Class 5 state champions, Platte County next week in Platte City.