By GENE SCHINZEL

Special to The Hays Daily News

COLBY -- Buhler made a habit during the regular season of dominating opponents before fans got settled into their seats.

That didn't change during the first round of the Class 4A playoffs Tuesday night.

Buhler, ranked No. 2 in 4A, scored touchdowns on all seven of its first-half possessions as Buhler cruised to a 65-19 win over Colby.

"They really showed their team speed tonight,"said Colby coach Chris Gardner, whose team entered Tuesday with a 7-2 record. "They looked fast on film, but once you get on the field and experience it, you don't realize how quick they are."

Buhler overwhelmed Colby with its speed and size from the start as the Crusaders led 53-0 at halftime.

And the Crusaders did that against a Colby defense that hadn't allowed any opponent to score more than 28 points in the regular season and were allowing 12 points per game.

"We were sharp," said Buhler coach Steve Warner, whose team left Buhler in the morning for a long bus trip. "You make a long trip, you don't know how the kids are going to respond. They responded exactly how we wanted them to.

"The offense played great, the defense played great. It was a great night for us."

The tone was set very early.

Buhler opened the game with a long kickoff return by Tanner Fisher and then drove 41 yards in five plays for a touchdown less than two minutes into the game.

Colby went three-and-out on its first possession and then Brennan Daniel blocked the punt. Two plays later, Jorden Oden scored his second rushing touchdown.

Colby punted again two minutes later -- the Eagles punted eight times in the first half -- and this time Fisher returned it 65 yards for a touchdown.

That made it 19-0 less than six minutes into the game.

"This definitely isn't what we were expecting," Buhler senior Brad Wimer said of the team's start. "We expected a dogfight, but our line once again was great. You can't ask for much more."

The line paved the way to nearly 400 offensive yards in the first half. The Crusaders averaged more than 14 yards per play in the first half, while the defense held Colby to 28 first-half yards. Buhler had nine tackles for loss in the first half, including sacks on three straight plays.

"It was a very good job by our defense," Warner said. "We knew they were going to try to run the ball, but they kind of changed that up on us and tried to pass the ball. That's been a little bit of weakness with our d-backs, but they did a great job tonight."

Oden was the beneficiary of the line's blocking as he finished the night with 150 yards on 10 carries. He scored five rushing touchdowns and caught a scoring pass from Reffner. Oden now has 2,277 yards and 36 touchdowns on the season.

Reffner was sharp throwing the ball as well as he was 7 of 9 for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Buhler's starters rested throughout the second half as they prepare for Saturday's second-round game with Hugoton.

That game will be played in Buhler.