The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Coach Tim Lafferty, Cyclone Head Coach
The West Prairie La Harpe Cyclones improved to 5-0 on the season with a big "2003 Homecoming" win over the visiting Hamilton Cardinals, 55-0. The Cyclones scored early and often as this match-up of West Central Conference rivals soon became a rout.
Special teams played a huge role on this night as the Cyclones used four big plays to take control of the contest. Senior Stephen Butterfield got the Cyclones on the board right away by returning the opening kick-off 79 yards for a quick six. Freshman Matt Woolam's PAT kick was true and WP-LH led 7-0 with just 13 seconds into the contest.
The next big special teams' play came on the ensuing kick-off Senior kicker Dusty Moore drilled his kick to the right up back who bobbled the ball. While the Cardinal return man was trying to find the handle on the ball, he was drilled by WP-LH senior coverman Brian Covert. Covert not only knocked the ball loose, but secured the pigskin for the Cyclones as well.
Covert's big play set up a short drive and score for the hosts, as QB Chase DeCounter finished the drive with a 1 yard plunge into the end zone. This would prove to be the senior signal-callers first of five touchdowns on the night.
Defense and special teams would produce the next pair of WP-LH scores. The Cyclone defense forced quick 3 and punts on the next 2 Cardinal possessions to set up the WP-LH punt return unit. That unit quickly made Hamilton pay by producing back-to-back touchdown returns. The first came on a 69 yard jaunt by senior Brett Pendell, while the second came on a 57 yard burst by Butterfield.
The remainder of the Cyclone scoring came on runs by DeCounter, the longest of which was a 22 yarder. Woolam was successful on 4 more PAT kicks, while DeCounter also added a 12 point conversion run. The Cyclones led 42-0 at intermission on their way to the 55-0 win.
The WP-LH offense was limited to 236 total yards (all on the ground) on this night primarily due to lack of opportunities and playing on a short field. DeCounter picked up 73 yards on 10 carries. Butterfield had 29 yards,Christopher Link had 24, Pendell had 14, and Eric Swank had 15. For the second offense, Brian Covert came in and produced 60 yards on 7 attempts. Robbie Moon chipped in 11 yards, Jason Poulter added 9, and Kevin Penrod picked up 5 yards.
The Cyclone defense came up huge on this evening as evidenced by Hamilton producing only 34 yards of offense The shutout was WP-LH's first of the season as the Cyclones avoided giving up the big plays that had been hurting them. The run defense was especially tough as they limited the Cardinals to -10 yards on 31 attempts.
The front wall of Justin Mohr, Matt Swanson, Eric Magee, Ty Huston, Jacob Bice, and Isaac Rogers was ably backed up by the linebacking corp of Pendell, Butterfield, Link, and Jon Zaehrlnger. The secondary of Brittain Daudelin, Poulter, DeCounter, and Moon was equally active and effective. Overall, it was a great team effort, as most shut-outs are.
The Cyclones return to action this Friday night when they hit the road again in West Central Conference play. WP-LH will travel to Mendon to square off with the Unity Mustangs. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. (not 7:00 as is usual) in this contest.