The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The visiting Carthage Blueboys showed the West Prairie-La Harpe Cyclones why they are ranked #1 (Class 2-A) in the state last Friday night with a resounding 54-14 victory over the hosts. The Cyclones made a game of it in the first half, trailing only 24-14, but it was all Carthage after the intermission. The Blueboys improved to 8-0 overall, while WP-LH fell to 7-1 on the season.
The first half saw the Blueboys take the advantage of an early Cyclone special teams mistake to grab an initial 8-0 lead. WP-LH stormed back with a nice drive, keyed by the strong running of Cyclone fullback Christopher Link. WP-LH quarterback Chase DeCounter finished the drive with a 3-yard run to score. The Cyclone conversion attempt failed and the hosts trailed 8-6.
The Blueboys answered with a long run for a touchdown on their ensuing possession to up their lead to 16-6. The Cyclones came right back with a big play of their own, however, as halfback Brett Pendell broke free on a 68-yard run down the left sideline. Stephen Butterfield ran in the conversion to cut the Blueboy lead to 16-14.
The Cyclone defense then gave WP-LH a chance to take the lead when Link picked off an errant Blueboy pass on Carthage's next possession. The hosts moved to about midfield, but the drive stalled there. Forced to punt, another special teams mistake cost the Cyclones as the Blueboys took advantage of a low snap to the WP-LH punter. The Blueboys ran it in for a quick score and started a 38-point unanswered surge to the West Central Conference Football Title.
West-Prairie LaHarpe was outgained by Carthage 314 yards to 255. The Cyclones gained 234 yards on the ground on 41 carries and picked up another 21 yards passing. Pendell picked up 118 yards on only 5 carries, while Link added 54 tough yards on 14 attempts (Link's totals were hurt by a 16-yard loss on a bad snap recovery). DeCounter contributed 47 yards rushing while Butterfield picked up 10 yards and Eric Swank added 5 yards. Link also contributed two receptions for 21 yards.
Defensively, the Cyclones unfortunately had big tackle totals for several guys due to Carthage's ability to maintain ball possession. Link, Swank, Isaac Rogers, and Ben Cox all were involved in at least ten tackles. DeCounter, Pendell, Butterfield, and Ty Huston were all in on at least five stops. Also on the tackle chart were Jason Poulter, Brian Covert, Eric Magee, Matt Zaehringer, Justin Mohr, and Dustin Moore.
The Cyclones return to action this Friday night when they travel to Beardstown. The host Tigers are also 7-1, so this is a game with huge play-off implications for both teams. The kick-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.