Cyclones host Knights in Friday home scrimmage

Even though teams weren’t keeping score, the HCHS Cyclones football team was back in action at Merrill Field Friday night hosting the Kuemper Catholic Knights.
“It feels great,” said Senior Jozef Reisz. “Coming back from last year after a tough game against Creston, feels good to get the boys out there. It’s definitely a confidence booster for next week, and we’re going to need it.”
The scrimmage lasted around 60 minutes and Reisz got involved in multiple plays making some great catches as a wide receiver thrown to him by Junior quarterback Gabe Arkfeld, including one that led to a touchdown.
“I thought our offensive line held up really well especially since Kuemper Catholic has a solid defensive line,” Reisz said. “It gave Gabe time to let the ball go, and I was just open.”
Other than Reisz’ touchdown, Cyclone head coach Todd Bladt took away some positives with regards to the offense.
“I thought Gabe threw some nice balls,” he said. “He made one critical error, but that’s a learning curve. You can’t throw it deep down field and leave her hanging on the inside for 12 yards. Jozef ran some really nice routes. I thought running the ball, Lukas Francis was really tough. He had some really nice vertical press. It was impressive to see.”
Bladt commented on his defense as well and what he liked from them making plays to stop Kuemper Catholic’s offense.
“Our defensive line, I thought we were really getting after it,” he added. “We had guys that were doing some good things. It seemed like a lot of the guys were on the same page and were communicating really well. The linebackers I thought did a really nice job calling things out. You have to be able to play with confidence and go at 100 MPH. A lot of people tend to process or think on the field, but we want to play reactionary football.”
The Cyclones will open their season against their rival, the Lewis Central Titans, who are coming off an 11-2 season, capping off their season with a 40-21 state title victory over the Western Dubuque Bobcats.
Offensively, the Titans were led by Junior Brady Hetzel with 2,587 passing yards, Senior Kamdyn Cross with 779 rushing yards, and Senior Curtis Witte with 825 receiving yards. Defensively, Senior Owen Thomas led the team in tackles with 67.5.
“Lewis Central, they reload just like us,” Reisz said. “They’ve got guys who are coming back and so do we. I think it should be a pretty good game. It’s obviously a rival. It’s going to be intense. Both crowds will be crazy, so it’ll be a good game.”