HUMBOLDT — It’s still just week two — not even a quarter into the 2022 football season — but Humboldt High’s Cubs delivered quite a statement Friday.
The Cub defense put the clamps on a powerful Caney Valley ground game, keeping the Bullpups off the scoreboard in a 24-0 victory.
The win, Humboldt’s first against the Bullpups since 2015, improves Humboldt’s record to 2-0.
More importantly, a game like this will pay off for both teams in the long run, Humboldt head coach Logan Wyrick said, because of both teams’ propensity for playing tough, physical football.
“There’s definitely room for improvement, but that was a big game,” Humboldt senior Trey Sommer agreed. “This tells us where we’re at, where we can improve, what we did well. It was a good game overall.”
Sommer was a primary catalyst, bustling loose for a pair of game-sealing touchdown runs with Humboldt nursing an 8-0 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
His first big jaunt, covering 45 yards, came on the first snap of the fourth period. His subsequent 2-point run pushed Humboldt ahead 16-0.
Caney Valley promptly moved deep into Humboldt’s side of the field on its longest drive of the game, but the Cub defense stiffened when the Bullpups reached scoring position.
A misfire on fourth down gave the Cubs possession, and Humboldt did more than milk the clock. Sommer capped the ensuing eight-play, 83-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown run with 1:34 left in the game.
By then, the only mystery was whether Humboldt’s defense could preserve the shutout.
Cub sophomore Chase DeMerritt offered an emphatic answer on the next play from scrimmage, recovering a Caney Valley fumble to allow Humboldt to regain possession and run out the clock.
Unofficially, the Cubs racked up 109 rushing yards in the fourth quarter alone, part of the team’s 221-yard output.
“I’ll tell anybody who listens, this is probably the best offensive line we’ve had in the eight years I’ve been here” Wyrick said. “But we’re 200 pounds across the board. We’re not big, and they’ve got some big, strong kids. They definitely out-sized us. We kept pounding on them, and found a couple things we could take advantage of. It just takes one to get something to pop. A broken tackle here or there, and that’s what happens.”
“We were slow in the first half,” Sommer said. “In the second half, we made some adjustments and came out firing on all cylinders. They’re a hard-nosed team. Very physical. Early on, they were plugging up the middle. Once we were able to get outside the tackles, it changed the game.”
NEITHER team could do much offensively in the first half, until a key defensive play from Humboldt’s Sam Hull tilted the game in favor of the home team.
Caney Valley quarterback Garrett Watson, under duress from a ferocious Humboldt pass rush, attempted in vain to pitch the ball outside to a Bulllpup running back. Instead, Hull deflected the pitch to himself, and raced untouched 29 yards for a touchdown. Sommer’s 2-point run put Humboldt ahead 8-0.
