The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The West Prairie-La Harpe Cyclones opened their 2004 football season by traveling to face the Saukees of Pittsfield. The host Saukees are picked by most experts as one of the top two teams in the West Central Conference and showed Friday night that they will be a factor by knocking off the Cyclones 14-7.
Neither team was able to dent the end-zone in the first 3 quarters of play as both defenses dominated. The Cyclones were especially hurt by 4 turnovers (3 fumbles and an interception) and a costly holding penalty deep in Pittsfield territory. Hopefully this is not a trend for an inexperienced West Prairie-La Harpe squad.
The 4th quarter changed all that as Pittsfield capitalized on some good field position off Cyclone turnovers to put a pair of touchdowns and extra point kicks on the scoreboard. This gave the Saukees a 14-0 advantage, with about 6 minutes left to play.
The Cyclones finally answered with a nice drive late in the game. Sophomore Joel DeCounter scored the first Cyclone points of 2004 with a 3-yard dive into the endzone. Classmate Matt Woolam added the successful P.A.T. kick to cut the Pittsfield edge to 14-7.
The Cyclones tried to use their defense and timeouts to get the ball back for a final challenge. However the Saukee offense produced the needed first down and ran the clock out on the Cyclone hopes.
Offensively, the Cyclones out gained Pittsfield 233 yards to 222. Most of the Cyclones' damage was done on the ground as WP-LH picked up 223 yards on 54 carries. DeCounter led the way with 73 yards on 15 attempts, while Woolam added 66 yards on 14 carries. Junior quarterback Kevin Mershon gained 46 yards on 16 carries, while senior halfback Robbie Moon added 38 yards on 8 attempts.
The Cyclone defense was led by its senior foursome of Ben Cox, Jon Zaehringer, Jason Poulter, and Moon. Cox and Zaehringer were each involved in 10 tackles, while Moon and Poulter had 6 each Woolam, DeCounter, J.D. Hobby, Evan Wisely, John Bruns, and Joe Pierson each made tackles to aid the Cyclone defensive effort.