Cyclones thrash Knoxville 76-0 in playoff tune-up

 KNOXVILLE (Oct. 22) -- The Harlan Community football team closed out a second straight undefeated regular season in dominant fashion Friday night, and that’s putting it mildly.
 The top-ranked (3A) Cyclones scored 11 touchdowns on offense and forced 11 punts defensively, holding Knoxville to zero first downs and minus-12 total yards in a 76-0 Week 9 rout at historic Ken Locke Stadium.
 Senior Connor Frame (five) and sophomore Noah Schmitz (four) combined for nine touchdowns as HCHS improved to 9-0 overall and wrapped up a Class 3A, District 6 championship at 5-0.
 The Cyclones will host Ballard (5-4) in a first round playoff game Friday, Oct. 29.
 Seventy-six points is the second-highest single-game point total in program history, topped only by Harlan High’s 94-0 win at Avoca in 1900. The Cyclones led 49-0 at the half and scored four times in the second half playing their backups with a running clock.
 “I can’t even hardly believe it. I’ve never seen a game like that in my life,” said HCHS head coach Todd Bladt.
 “We went down and took care of business. The kids played hard. I was really impressed with the second-string guys. They played real hard and actually put (27) points on the board, so pretty impressed by their efforts.”
 Sophomore Noah Schmitz accounted for much of the Cyclones’ second-half offense, carrying the ball 11 times for 146 yards and four touchdowns. His TD runs covered 24, 8, 33 and 59 yards, respectively.
 Frame’s monster first half included a 54-yard punt return TD as well as scoring receptions of 29, 14, 58 and 31 yards from QB Teagon Kasperbauer. The last of those touchdowns came with :05 left in the second quarter.
 Frame finished his one half of play with six receptions for 155 yards and five punt returns for 107. Tight end Jacob Birch added three catches for 62 yards.

    The Cyclones’ stifling defensive effort saw 10 players record at least one tackle for loss as the Panthers (1-8, 1-6) were stopped three-and-out 11 times. HCHS, by contrast, has punted just seven times in nine games.
Historic numbers:
 This year’s Cyclone team has scored 483 points, breaking the nine-game regular season school record of 444 established in 1970.
 Friday’s 76 points are the most scored by HCHS in the modern mercy rule era. HCHS scored 69 points in a 2015 game, beating Atlantic 69-7. Harlan topped 70 points just two other times in addition to its 94-point outburst, beating Avoca 73-0 in 1942 and Manning 71-0 in 1919. The 1919 squad followed up that victory with a 75-0 loss to Creighton Prep in the next game.

Full story in Oct. 26 Harlan Tribune

Harlan Community 76, Knoxville 0
    HCHS: Aidan Hall 5-yd. run (Stephen Leinen kick) - 1st qt., 9:05.
 HCHS: Connor Frame 29-yd. pass from Teagon Kasperbauer (Leinen kick) - 1st qt., 5:05.
 HCHS: Hall 2-yd. run (Leinen kick) - 1st qt., 0:14.
 HCHS: Frame 14-yd. pass from Kasperbauer (Leinen kick) - 2nd qt., 10:10.
 HCHS: Frame 58-yd. pass from Kasperbauer (Leinen kick) - 2nd qt., 7:24.
 HCHS: Frame 54-yd. punt return (Leinen kick) - 2nd qt., 5:55.
 HCHS: Frame 31-yd. pass from Kasperbauer (Leinen kick) - 2nd qt., :05.
 HCHS: Noah Schmitz 24-yd. run (Leinen kick) - 3rd qt., 6:27.
 HCHS: N. Schmitz 8-yd. run (Leinen kick) - 3rd qt., 2:49.
 HCHS: N. Schmitz 33-yd. run (kick failed) - 4th qt., 9:57.
 HCHS: N. Schmitz 59-yd. run (Leinen kick) - 4th qt., 5:20.
HCHS                                Knoxville
19            First Downs               0
25-212     Rush att.-Yards        29-(-15)
229          Passing Yards          3
441          Total Yards            (-12)
10-14-1    Comp.-Att.-Int.        2-9-1
1-0          Fumbles-lost            2-1
0-0          Punts-avg.              11-35.7
5-50        Penalties-yards       5-55

Harlan Community Individual Stat Leaders
    Rushing -- Noah Schmitz 11-146, Aidan Hall 7-62, Hayden Soma 5-12. Passing -- Teagon Kasperbauer 10-14-1, 229. Receiving -- Connor Frame 6-155, Jacob Birch 3-62, Joey Moser 1-12.
    Punt returns -- Frame 5-107 (1 TD), Luke Musich 2-22. Kickoff return -- Moser 1-28.
 Kickoffs -- Stephen Leinen 11-605 (55.0), 1 touchback.
    Tackles -- Lucas Stanley 2s/5a, Franz Reisz 2s/5a, Bret Van Baale 3s/2a, Alex Monson 2s/3a, Mason Anderson 2s/2a, Garrett Assmann 1s/3a, Zane Bendorf 2s/1a, Matt Schwery 2s/1a, Will McLaughlin 1s/2a, Soma 1s/2a.
 Tackles for loss -- Stanley 2s/2a, Schwery 2s/1a, McLaughlin 1s/1a, Reisz 0s/2a, Sam Bladt 0s/2a, Assmann 1s/0a, Van Baale 1s/0a, Bendorf 1s/0a, Monson 1s/0a, Soma 0s/1a. QB Sacks -- McLaughlin 1s/1a, Schwery 0s/1a.
 Interception-return yards -- Lyon 1-16. Fumble recovery -- Anderson.

Class 3A Football Playoffs • First Round Assignments • Friday, Oct. 29

Pod #1
Sioux Center (5-4) at Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (9-0)
Algona (5-4) at Sergeant Bluff-Luton (7-2)
Pod #2
Hampton-Dumont/CAL (5-4) at Humboldt (9-0)
Independence (8-1) at Benton Community (8-1)
Pod #3
Ballard (5-4) at Harlan Community (9-0)
ADM, Adel (7-2) at Nevada (8-1)
Pod #4
Grinnell (6-3) at West Delaware (8-1)
Davenport Assumption (6-3) at Solon (9-0)