Aerial onslaught lifts Cyclones past Atlantic 56-14
HARLAN (Sept. 14) -- With 6:20 left in the first half Friday night, Harlan Community found itself in a 7-7 deadlock with Atlantic. Two minutes later it was 14-all.
By the middle of the third quarter, HCHS led by a whopping 42 points.
Scoring six touchdowns in a span of six minutes and 54 seconds - all in just 14 plays - the 10th-ranked (Class 3A) Cyclones blew open a close game and dominated the last 28 minutes to beat the Trojans 56-14 in non-district football action at Merrill Field.
HCHS senior quarterback Preston Mulligan and his fleet of receivers finished the first half with an explosion of passing yards, leading to four touchdowns in the final 5:04 of the first half - and nearly six in the last 6:05 - to take a 35-14 lead into the intermission.
The Cyclones added two scores in the first 1:49 of the second half to activate a running clock and also struck pay dirt on their next possession to cap the scoring with 5:18 left in the third.
Mulligan finished with 352 yards passing (332 in the first half), five first-half TD passes, one interception and nearly 30 yards per completion as HCHS (3-1) topped the Trojans (2-2) for the 35th time in the last 36 meetings.
The Cyclone defense forced 10 punts and had two interceptions, allowing just 19 second-half yards and no first downs following Chase Mullenix’s 55-yard touchdown run with 4:05 left in the first half.
At one point in the second quarter, Mulligan completed consecutive passes covering 68 yards, 57, 54 and 43 (222 total) as Cyclone receivers ran down deep throws, made leaping grabs and picked up huge gains after the catch.
HCHS finished with 570 yards of total offense compared to 151 for Atlantic, which went nowhere on its last seven possessions.
Harlan Community 56, Atlantic 14
HCHS: Jon Owens 30-yd. pass from Preston Mulligan (Kyle Knudson kick) - 1st qt., 1:18.
Atlantic: Tyler Moen 7-yd. pass from Chase Mullenix (Moen kick) - 2nd qt., 6:20.
HCHS: Eli Boldan 57-yd. pass from Mulligan (Knudson kick) - 2nd qt., 5:04.
Atlantic: Chase Mullenix 55-yd. run (Moen kick) - 2nd qt., 4:05.
HCHS: Johnathan Monson 54-yd. pass from Mulligan (Knudson kick) - 2nd qt., 3:48.
HCHS: Brett Sears 7-yd. pass from Mulligan (Knudson kick) - 2nd qt., 1:37.
HCHS: Boldan 31-yd. pass from Mulligan (Knudson kick) - 2nd qt., 0:00.
HCHS: Alex Schechinger 2-yd. run (Knudson kick) - 3rd qt., 11:26.
HCHS: A. Schechinger 9-yd. run (Knudson kick) - 3rd qt., 10:11.
HCHS: Brenden Bartley 4-yd. run (Knudson kick) - 3rd qt., 5:18.
HCHS Individual Stat Leaders
Rushing -- Brenden Bartley 11-89, Alex Schechinger 13-87.
Passing -- Preston Mulligan 12-19-1, 352.
Receiving -- Johnathan Monson 4-156, Eli Boldan 3-106, A. Schechinger 1-43, Jon Owens 2-42.
Tackles -- Owens 6 (5s/1a), Jake McLaughlin 6 (2s/4a), Fah 5 (2s/3a), Chase Finken 5 (2s/3a).
Interceptions-return yds. -- Fah 1-5, J. Monson 1-27.