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The West Prairie-La Harpe Cyclones picked up their 4th consecutive win and upped their overall record to 6-2 with a convincing win over the Unity Mustangs last Friday night. The visiting Cyclones used a big play offense to overwhelm their hosts from Mendon as they scored on 4 different plays of over 70 yards. Overall, the Cyclones gained more than 500 yards on the night.
WP-LH's first two scores were of the shorter variety as Brian Butterfield ran in from 3 yards out following a botched punt snap by Unity and junior Joel DeCounter added a 1 yard plunge to pay dirt only 3 minutes into the contest. Extra point kicked by Matt Woolam set the early Cyclone advantage at 14-0.
The Cyclones scored twice more in the 2nd quarter to further their commanding edge. Butterfield swept right for 72 yards and a touchdown at the 7:47 mark and Woolam's successful PAT gave WP-LH a 21-3 lead.
Senior quarterback Kevin Mershon connected a few minutes later with senior tight end, Randy Bray, for an 11-yard TD pass. The PAT kick sailed just wide and the Cyclones went in to the half up 27-6.
The 3rd quarter saw WP-LH pull off 3 long-distance TD tallies. Their speed was too much for the Mustangs on this night. A 75 yard run by Mershon, a 77 yard punt return by DeCounter, and a 71 yard run by DeCounter pushed WP-LH out to an even bigger edge. Two more PAT kicks by Woolam gave the Cyclones 46 points by the end of the 3rd frame.
The last Cyclone touchdown came on a successful short drive by the teams 2nd offense. Runs by Skyler Pence, Brytton Mason, and Justin Sparrow set the stage for senior halfback, Jesse Palmer, to score from 3 yards out on a cross buck over the left side.
As previously mentioned the Cyclones gained over 500 yards on this evening with 485 yards on the ground and 33 yards through the air. Leading the ground attack were Butterfield (176 yards on 5 carries) and DeCounter (115 yards on 8 carries), as both topped the century mark. Mershon added 80 yards rushing on 3 attempts, while Eric Swank amassed 52 yards and Woolam chipped in with 38.
Mershon connected on 3 of 9 pass attempts, but his totals were hurt by a couple of drops on beautifully thrown balls. Swank caught one pass for 19 yards, DeCounter 1 for 3 yards, and of course Bray had the 11 yard TD grab.
Defensively the Cyclones were led by Butterfield's 11 total tackles.
Swank, Mershon, Woolam, Justin Ward, Kylen Carpenter, and Tyler Sharpe all were involved with at least 5 tackles. Others on the tackle chart included: Bray, DeCounter, Pence, Palmer, Ryan Mullenix, Jacob Markey, John Bruns, Evan Wisely, Dylan McKeown, Blake Harper, and Brytton Mason.
The Cyclones return to action this Friday night when they host the Camp Point-Southeastern Panthers. The game will be at Baumann field in Sciota and will kickoff at 7:00 p.m.