HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt football team is geared up for its second round of the Class 2A playoffs at Osage City on Friday.
The Cubs are seeking revenge against the Osage City Indians, who delivered them one of their two losses earlier this season by a score of 42-34.
Cub seniors Maddox Johnson and Trey Sommer are ready for the task.
“Our goal is to win a state championship,” said Johnson. “To do that we’re going to have to do things we’ve never done before. That includes going harder than any team before us at Humboldt.”
Johnson’s message makes anyone want to run through a brick wall for their teammates, especially for a team that has had winning seasons in five of the past six years. Last season, Humboldt fell to Wellsville in the second round of the playoffs, 49-8.
In 2020, the Cubs finished 4-4 and missed the postseason. Humboldt reached the quarterfinals of the playoffs in 2019 where they were ousted by Nehema Central, 44-28. The Cubs also lost to Wellsville in the opening round of the playoffs in 2017, 48-0.
The closest the team has come to sniffing a state championship the past six years was a state semifinal loss to Riley County in 2018, 46-16.
“I think we pride ourselves on the ability to go 110% no matter what we’re doing,” Johnson said. “Our coach likes to throw in new stuff and we’re constantly changing things around and everybody is OK with that. We have a number of guys that play multiple positions and we have a lot of depth.”
Offense will be key to its success.
This season the Cubs have gone for 4,467 yards offensively, 3,428 rushing yards and 1,039 passing yards.
The team has also rushed for an impressive 61 touchdowns and passed for 14 touchdowns.
“We don’t have a lot of trouble moving the ball on offense,” Sommer said. “Especially running the ball. Offensively, we want to pound the ball, run, run and run and throw here and there and hope we can move the ball and score with ease.”
Osage City’s starting quarterback Landon Boss will be the Cubs’ biggest challenge. Boss is a prolific pocket passer and can also run with the ball.
“We want to lock down Landon Boss,” said Johnson. “When he steps in the pocket he can run underneath us for a big run or he steps in the pocket and launches one deep. We’ve got to force him to roll out.”
“It’s more about just being ready and staying locked in,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to focus on what we’ve been working on and then execute to the best of our ability.”
