Cyclones blank Bombers 45-0, advance to 3A quarterfinals
HARLAN (Oct. 29) -- The Harlan Community football team’s playoff opener resembled many of the regular season games that preceded it this fall.
A whole lot of highlights for HCHS, and very few for the opponent.
The top-ranked Cyclones scored on their first seven possessions Friday night and stymied Ballard’s one-dimensional attack, beating the Bombers 45-0 in a Class 3A first round playoff game at Merrill Field.
HCHS improved to 10-0 on the season and will now host eighth-ranked Nevada (9-1) in a quarterfinal showdown Friday (Nov. 5) at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the UNI-Dome.
Nevada outlasted No. 10 ADM 34-26 in the first round.
“It’s playoff football, so I’m sure that they’re going to bring every trick they’ve got in the book. We’ve got to be ready on Friday,” said HCHS head coach Todd Bladt.
“I was proud of our guys and how focused they were. It’s one game at a time, so tonight we’re 1-0 and then (Saturday) morning we wake up 0-0.”
The Cyclones’ conquest of Ballard (5-5) featured an efficient four-TD passing night by quarterback Teagon Kasperbauer, two impressive school records for senior receiver Connor Frame and an incredible 30-yard touchdown run by tailback Aidan Hall.
But it was the Cyclone defense that set the tone with a quick pair of three-and-out stops en route to allowing just one first down in the first half.
Facing a Ballard offense with big linemen and plenty of unbalanced sets to plow the road for wildcat QB Eli Rouse, the Cyclones refused to give an inch. The starting defensive line - ends Alex Monson and Will McLaughlin and tackles Jameson Bieker and Zane Bendorf - got off the ball hard and owned the line of scrimmage with help from the linebackers behind them.
Bieker finished with a team-high 8.0 tackles (three solos, 10 assists), including three stops in the backfield. Lucas Stanley had one solo and eight assists.
The defensive dominance led to some short fields for the offense as four HCHS scoring drives started in Bomber territory. Another began at the Cyclones’ 47.
Kasperbauer completed 15-of-18 passes - one of the incompletions was a drop - for 230 yards and four TDs. Frame caught three of the scoring passes for 15, 35 and 47 yards and finished with five catches for 118. Joey Moser added a 31-yard TD catch for the only points of the second half.
Frame broke a pair of long-standing school records during the first half, increasing his touchdown reception totals to 19 on the season and 33 for his career. Michael Burger, an IHSAA Hall of Famer who played for Harlan from 1991-1993 - and later at Iowa - held the previous records with 17 in a season and 30 in a career.
Hall finished Friday’s game with 100 yards rushing on just nine carries, including an electric 30-yard TD run with 5:08 left in the first quarter. Hall initially broke two open-field tackles on a run off right tackle, then was surrounded by Ballard tacklers near the 20. But before going down, Hall emerged from the cluster, darted toward the sideline and found the end zone to make it 14-0.
“That was crazy. That was something else,” Bladt said. “I’m saying, ‘Go down, go down,’ and then all of a sudden he’s running for a touchdown. I haven’t seen one like that in a while."
Full story in Nov. 2 Harlan Tribune
Harlan Community 45, Ballard 0
HCHS: Connor Frame 15-yd. pass from Teagon Kasperbauer (Stephen Leinen kick) - 1st qt., 7:20.
HCHS: Aidan Hall 30-yd. run (Leinen kick) - 1st qt., 5:08.
HCHS: Hall 5-yd. run (Leinen kick) - 2nd qt., 9:16.
HCHS: Frame 35-yd. pass from Kasperbauer (Leinen kick) - 2nd qt., 5:34.
HCHS: Frame 47-yd. pass from Kasperbauer (Leinen kick) - 2nd qt., 3:16.
HCHS: Leinen 41-yd. FG - 2nd qt., 0:00.
HCHS: Joey Moser 31-yd. pass from Kasperbauer (Leinen kick) - 3rd qt., 7:02.
Ballard HCHS
7 First Downs 18
36-111 Rush att.-Yards 19-115
31 Passing Yards 230
142 Total Yards 345
2-5-0 Comp.-Att.-Int. 15-19-0
1-0 Fumbles-lost 0-0
7-34.4 Punts-avg. 1-40.0
6-40 Penalties-yards 2-15
Harlan Community Individual Stat Leaders
Rushing -- Aidan Hall 9-100, William Kenkel 5-18. Passing -- Teagon Kasperbauer 15-18-0, 230. Receiving -- Connor Frame 5-118, Joey Moser 4-55, Jacob Birch 3-31, Hall 3-26.
Punting -- Stephen Leinen 1-40. Kickoffs -- Leinen 7-393 (56.1), 4 touchbacks. Field goal -- Leinen 1-1 (41).
Tackles -- Jameson Bieker 3s/10a, Lucas Stanley 1s/8a, Will McLaughlin 1s/4a, Matthew Sorfonden 2s/2a, Hayden Soma 1s/3a, Quinn Koesters 1s/2a, Ben Alberti 1s/2a, Alex Monson 1s/2a, Franz Reisz 0s/3a.
Tackles for loss -- Bieker 1s/2a, McLaughlin 1s/0a, Garrett Assmann 1a, Monson 1a.
Ballard Individual Stat Leaders
Rushing -- Eli Rouse 24-102. Passing -- Rouse 2-5-0, 31. Receiving -- Bryce Haessig 1-17.
Tackles -- Jacob Ihle 5s/2a, Jayden Swain 3s/2a, Trevor Kalsem 3s/2a.