HUMBOLDT — A few too many miscues, combined with a ferocious Council Grove defense, brought Humboldt High’s dream season to an end Friday.
The Cubs were locked in an 8-8 stalemate with Council Grove until a critical sequence just before halftime put Humboldt in a hole it could never escape. The Braves scored with no time left in the half, and then tacked on two more touchdowns after intermission to secure a 31-8 victory.
The loss ends Humboldt’s season at 10-1 in the sectional round of the Class 2A playoffs, the third straight year Humboldt’s season has ended at this point of the postseason.
Humboldt senior Blake Ellis gave the home crowd a charge 2 minutes into the contest when he burst through the line on fourth-and-2 and outraced the Council Grove defense for a 60-yard touchdown run.
After the teams traded punts, Council Grove scored the equalizer on a 1-yard touchdown run from Cade Gooddell late in the first quarter.
Neither team did much through the second period, until things went south for the Cubs in the final minute.
After successfully pulling off a fake punt and securing a first down, Humboldt saw its drive go awry with a holding penalty and quarterback sack with less than a minute on the clock.
Things got a little wacky from there.
The Braves’ Landon Dody broke off a long punt return to set Council Grove up at the Cub 32-yard line, but with no timeouts remaining and just 25 seconds on the clock.
Two plays later, Council Grove quarterback Luke Stewart found Levi Waring on a perfectly placed throw down the right sideline. Waring stumbled to the turf at the Cub 2.
The Braves raced to the line of scrimmage as Stewart spiked the ball to stop the clock, much to the chagrin of Humboldt’s coaching staff, who contended the spike should’ve been considered a backward lateral and fumble.
The refs disagreed, giving Council Grove another shot at the end zone.
Humboldt’s Jacob Harrington then narrowly missed an interception on the next play, but the ball bounced harmlessly to the turf, with 1 precious second still showing on the clock.
It was all the Braves needed. Council Grove’s Ace Monihen knifed his way into the end zone, giving the Braves a 16-8 advantage at the break.
Humboldt made some noise, but still couldn’t capitalize on an early scoring opportunity in the third quarter.
