Cyclones face rival Trojans Friday on the road
After last week’s 24-21 must-win victory over the Nevada Cubs, the HCHS Cyclones football team has another task in front of them Friday night on the road against the Atlantic Trojans.
“That’s why you play the game,” said Cyclone Head Coach Todd Bladt. “It’s an exciting game, and it’s a big game. We’ve been playing playoff football for a couple of weeks now. We’re still in the playoffs. That’s going to come to fruition here this week with Atlantic. Big time game.”
The Trojans are 6-2 with their most recent game, a road win against the Perry Bluejays. Offensively, Senior Tristan Hayes has 450 passing yards, Senior Tyson O’Brien has 1,311 rushing yards, and Senior Jarrett Hansen has 171 receiving yards. Defensively, Sophomore Jake Wailes has 56 tackles.
“They have a tough defense,” Bladt said. “They have a tough offense. They really grind things out. It’s going to be a slugfest down there.
The current head coach of the Trojans is Joe Brummer, a Harlan alum. Bladt talked about what he remembers from Brummer’s playing days, as well as him coaching the Trojans.
“I think he’s doing a fantastic job down there,” Bladt said of Brummer. “In high school, he was a very tenacious player. He had a motorboat and he’d get on you and he’d bury you. He knows what winning football is.”
The Cyclones are 4-3 with back-to-back wins against Perry and Nevada. Offensively, Junior Gabe Arkfeld has 1,187 passing yards, Senior Lukas Francis 557 rushing yards, and Senior Jozef Reisz has 663 receiving yards. Defensively, Senior Bryce Van Baale has 56 tackles.
“Their record is definitely not a reflection of how good they truly are,” Brummer said. “The win against Nevada was a huge win and keeps them in the playoff hunt. Harlan plays a tough, physical brand of football that all teams would hope to imitate. Some kids that you have to look out for would be Joseph Reisz, Gabe Arkfeld, Bryce Van Baale, Lukas Francis, Dallas McDowell, and Hayden Soma.”
Brummer spoke on his respect for Bladt.
“Coach Bladt is a great coach,” he said. “He was my offensive line coach when I was in high school and showed great respect for all of his athletes, he works his tail off each week with his guys and it shows on film that he and his staff have done a great job with these kids. They play hard for him.”
Last season, the Cyclones hosted Atlantic Oct. 13 and dominated them winning 27-6. Bladt recalled some memories of Atlantic over the years.
“The rivalry goes back to the early 80’s,” he said. “If you want to go all the way back to 1981, we beat them to advance in the playoffs. 1981 it kind of switched over, and we didn’t really look back until around 2001. Atlantic had a state title right around that time period. There’s a lot of history there. A lot of great players have come through Atlantic.”
