It simply was just one of those nights for the Humboldt football team. Despite their efforts, nothing seemed to go right, culminating in a 48-0 loss at Wellsville in Bi-Districts on Tuesday.
Six Cub turnovers and a multitude of penalties put both sides of the ball in bad spots all night.
“It just seemed like when we tried to get something to pop or come up with play, we’d throw an interception or something,” head coach Logan Wyrick said. “It was one thing after another and it just kind of snowballed on us. We kept trying to battle and find a way and it just wasn’t happening.”
Wellsville opened up with a 45-yard run on their first drive of the night to go up 6-0. Humboldt’s defense seemed to find its footing after that, stalling the Eagle offense in the red zone on their next possession. A pick-six thrown by senior quarterback Hesston Murrow pushed the Eagles’ lead to 12-0 with a minute and a half left in the first quarter.
The Cubs fumbled the kick-off after the interception and after the Eagles recovered, junior Wellsville quarterback Zach Vance connected with senior Elijah Kearney on a 29-yard touchdown to make their lead 20-0 with a minute left in the first quarter.
The second quarter didn’t go much better as Murrow threw his second interception on the evening on the ensuing drive which quickly turned into more points for the Cubs when Vance hit junior Dawson Donovan on a sixty-yard touchdown to make it 26-0.
After the Humboldt offense stalled out on their next drive, Wellsville drove the field and finished with a 17-yard touchdown from Vance to Kearney to make it 34-0 with three and a half minutes until halftime.
The Cubs got their best field position of the game after Wellsville fumbled a Humboldt interception on their next drive but the Cubs weren’t able to punch it in before halftime.
The third quarter started off well for the Cubs as they were able to hold the explosive Wellsville offense down for a majority ofthe quarter including forcing a fumble with five minutes in.
The Eagles put together another long drive though and with 3:03 left in the quarter, Anthony Geist pounded it in the end zone from a yard out for his second touchdown of the game.
A scary moment in the game occurred midway through the third quarter as junior lineman David Watts left the game with a back injury. He was transported by ambulance from the game after it had ended to Olathe Medical Center and his status is still currently unknown by the Register.
“He’s a tough kid,” Wyrick said. “I have full confidence that he’ll be alright. We just have to keep praying about it and we’ve already done that and that’s all we can do. He’s a fighter.”
The Cubs fumbled near the end of the third and to start the fourth quarter which set the Eagles up for one final four-yard score to close up the game.
“I told them there’s nothing that I can say that’s going to make it better,” Wyrick said. “It’s been a great process and they’ve built on it but after this hurt has subsided they need to understand that 7-3 is a pretty solid year. It’s not what we wanted to be but there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a great step in the right direction. They need to be proud of that.”
For the Cubs 11 seniors: Murrow, Kyler Allen, Wyatt Seufert, Chad Classen, Lance Daniels, Colin Gillespie, Jacob Barker, Noah Johnson, Flint Turner, Seth Hegwald and Brent Yost, this was their last game in a Cubs uniform.
“They battled,” Wyrick said. “Those are some of my favorite guys and it’s going to be tough to see them go. I’m with them in some other things too but in football, it’s different. The comradery that we build on through the friendships and the battles you go through is just different. They’ve done a great job. They’re my guys.”
The Cubs end their season at 7-3.
PHOTO: Senior quarterback Hesston Murrow hands off the ball to senior running back Jacob Barker in Humboldt’s 48-0 loss at Wellsville on Tuesday. REGISTER/TIMOTHY EVERSON
