Cyclones roll to dominant win
The Cyclones struck early Friday night against Sergeant Bluff on a 17-yard touchdown run by Senior running back Noah Schmitz with just over a minute played. The Cyclones cruised to a 42-6 victory.
“It was nice to get on them early,” said Cyclones Head Coach Todd Bladt. “We had a little hole in there where we were not executing perfectly, but overall it was a good showing by the guys and they kind of put some different things out there and tried some different things and were able to make some adjustments at halftime that helped.”
The Warriors had a drive of their own midway through the first quarter but the stingy Cyclone defense forced a 3rd and long and the Warriors settled for a field goal making it 7-3.
It didn’t take long for the Cyclones to answer back in a big way when Arkfeld found Senior Matthew Sorfonden who went on a 24-yard touchdown pass with just under four minutes to go in the quarter, making it a 13-3 Cyclone lead. Schwery added the extra point.
When the Warriors got back on offense, it looked like they had an opportunity to score on 3rd and 5, but Junior Alex Heithoff came up with a sack stopping them in their tracks and prevented them from scoring.
“He [Heithoff] is really coming along,” Bladt said. “Alex was playing both ways tonight and battling a little better and showed improvement from last week to this week.”
The Cyclones scored once more before the quarter ended when Arkfeld threw to Senior Brehden Eggerss for a 36-yard touchdown pass, making it 20-3 Cyclones. Schwery added the extra point.
Not long into the second quarter, the Cyclones found the scoreboard once again when Arkfeld threw to Senior Cade Sears for a 12-yard touchdown, which would be one of three touchdowns Sears would score on the night, making it 27-3. Schwery added the extra point.
Just before halftime, Arkfeld found Sears once again on a 1st and goal, hitting him with a 9-yard touchdown to give the Cyclones a 34-3 lead.
“He kind of showed his speed and his ability to get open and Will also showed his ability to put the ball on the money there,” Bladt said. “Offensively, I was fairly pleased with what we were able to accomplish, but we really have got to work on our run game.”
Just before halftime, Senior Franz Reisz came up with a sack that got the Cyclone fanbase pumped up.
“Franz was doing a lot out there tonight,” Bladt added. “We’re going to have to get him a new jersey or throw this one in the dryer, he was getting kind of held around there. He’s starting to feel a little more comfortable with that role and what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s going to improve and he continues to build his shape.”
When the third quarter got underway, The Warriors managed to make their way downfield but the Cyclones defense stopped them and Warrior Senior Scott Dickson kicked his second field goal of the night, making it a 35-6 Cyclone lead.
The remainder of the quarter was quiet until Sears once again scored another touchdown on a 33-yard pass from Arkfeld widening the Cyclones lead to 41-6, followed by another extra point from Schwery.
The Cyclones have now won three in a row moving their record to 3-1 on the season. It won’t get any easier for the Cyclones as they travel to take on the undefeated 4-0 Creston Panthers Friday night.
The Panthers are coming off a dominant 50-21 win over the Carroll Tigers and are led by Cael Turner with 1,201 passing yards, Brennan Hayes with 559 rushing yards and 469 receiving yards. Defensively, Dillon Starlin leads the team with 28.5 tackles.
“You start looking at some of these different things that they do really well,” Bladt said. “They throw the ball really well, they run the ball very effectively, they’ve got good offensive steam and we’re going to have to battle is what it comes down to and just want it more.”