HUMBOLDT — There were some early glimmers of hope Friday that Humboldt High was still on an upswing.
The Cubs were back home, following a dramatic overtime victory at Jayhawk-Linn the week before.
But turnovers and defensive breakdowns proved costly in a 47-14 loss to visiting Wellsville.
The loss drops the Cubs to 4-3 on the season and 1-3 in Class 2A district play.
“It’s the same thing we’ve been preaching all year,” Humboldt head coach Logan Wyrick said. “We’ve gotta tackle better, and we’ve gotta take care of the ball. People make football a very, very complicated game, but it’s not. You’ve got to tackle and take care of the ball. We didn’t do those things tonight, and it cost us.”
After spotting the Eagles an early 7-0 lead, Humboldt came back quickly on its ensuing drive, with long runs by Drake Harrington and Trey Sommer. However, the Cubs’ offense stalled in its tracks at midfield.
Faced with fourth-and-12 at the Wellsville 37, Sommer lobbed a high-arcing spiral to the corner of the end zone, in the direction of receiver Trenton Heisler.
But Dakota Slocum, who was running a shorter route, thought the ball was aimed at him. He and Heisler jumped and collided at the goal line, but Slocum was able to corral the ball in the process. He then spun past a stunned Eagle defender for the touchdown. Sommer’s 2-point conversion gave the Cubs an 8-7 lead.
The Eagles scored on a long pass play over the middle late in the first quarter, then retook possession a short while later, after Humboldt lost the ball on a muffed snap during a punt attempt. Wellsville’s Dylan McCarty connected with Jacob Lee over the middle on a 44-yard touchdown.
An Eagle interception on the Cubs’ next drive turned into a 9-yard scoring jaunt by Schnoor, to lead 26-8 at the break.
The Eagles kept up the pressure in the third quarter. Nash Money scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, then Humboldt failed to field the ensuing kickoff. The ball bounced on the turf once, then shot straight back to Wellsville’s Jacob Hunsaker. Schnoor’s 10-yard scoring run followed, and the lead swelled to 40-8. Wyatt Bird capped Wellsville’s scoring with a 6 yard touchdown in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
Humboldt’s final score came late in the fourth, on the heels of an 11-play, 66-yard drive. Sommer’s 3-yard touchdown came at the 2:33 mark of the game.
“We were right there early,” Wyrick said. “We each gotta find ways to grow up a little bit faster and keep battling.”
Slocum paced Humboldt with 78 yards on four receptions. Sommer hit 5 of 11 passes for 73 yards, while rushing for 41. Aden Kelley had 28 yards on six carries; Drake Harrington had 18 yards on a single carry.
The Eagles, who rushed for 223 yards in the contest, were led by Nash Money’s 106 yards on the ground. Dylan McCarty was 7 of 11 for 131 yards. David Signs had 89 yards on three receptions.
Humboldt travels to Osage City next Friday for the regular season finale.
