Cyclones punch ticket to postseason with home win

With a combination of stellar defense and timely plays, the HCHS Cyclones football team took care of business in Friday's regular season finale at home against the Knoxville Panthers winning 42-7 stamping their ticket to the postseason.
"We knew we had to bounce back and now we really proved a statement," said Senior Cyclone Jozef Reisz. "We've just got to keep going, keep moving forward."
The Cyclones scored first on the night when Junior quarterback Gabe Arkfeld handed off to Senior running back Lukas Francis on 2nd and goal and he gingerly ran into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run. Senior kicker Nolan Schwery kicked the extra point putting the Cyclones up 7-0. Francis would not return the remainder of the game.
"Hopefully he's okay," said Cyclone Head Coach Todd Bladt of Francis. "He had a really nice run before that for like 75 yards, and couldn't quite get it to the house, and it’s nice to get on the board quick. Good execution up front, and good execution by the ball, and it was good to get out early on them."
When the Cyclones special teams took the field Senior Cyclone Bryce Van Baale stopped the Panther offense at the 24-yard line. The Panther offense made their way downfield, but was stopped by Senior Alex Heithoff on 2nd and 10, followed by another stop by Senior Brett Heese to force a third down.
The combination of Senior Panthers Brenden Woolsey and Koby Higginbotham managed to get another first down, but the Cyclone defense went to work once again, this time getting a stop by Junior Dallas McDowell keeping the Panthers off the scoreboard.
With the first quarter winding down, the Cyclones scored again when Arkfeld threw a pass to Reisz for an 80-yard touchdown catch and run putting his team up 13-0. Schwery added the extra point.
"I have a great receiving core," Arkfeld said. "Everybody catches the ball, and it makes life easy on me. The offensive line has been doing outstanding. They block for me, and anything I ask them to do, they can go out and get it done."
Just before the quarter ended, the Panthers were on offense when Woolsey threw a pass that was intercepted by Sophomore Cyclone Sam Shields, which led to a big moment early into the second quarter.
On a 1st and 10, Arkfeld handed off to Freshman Jackson Ahrenholtz who went for a 23-yard touchdown run. Schwery added the extra point making it a 21-0 lead.
When the Panther offense returned to the field, they were slowly making their way downfield when another Cyclone interception occurred, this time by Reisz, which led to another big play close to halftime. On a 2nd and 21, Arkfeld found Reisz once again for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Schwery added the extra point giving the Cyclones a 28-0 lead at halftime.
"We knew we had to come out hot against these guys," Reisz said. "If you just stick with them, they are going to try to linger along, so we got out of the gates right away. That's what we've been doing in these last few games, and we just need to keep continuing to do that in the playoffs."
When the third quarter began, it didn't take the Cyclones long to find the scoreboard when on a 1st and 10, Arkfeld handed off to Van Baale who sprinted downfield getting all the way to the 10-yard line. On the next play, Arkfeld handed off to Ahrenholtz for a 10-yard touchdown run making it a 34-0 Cyclone lead. Schwery added the extra point.
When the Panthers returned to offense, the Cyclone defense came up with another interception when Woolsey threw a pass, but Cyclone Senior Spencer Fink caught it, getting the Cyclone offense back on the field. Nothing came off it, but when the Panther offense returned to action, another interception occurred, this time McDowell coming up with it, which turned into a scoring opportunity for the Cyclones.
On a 3rd and 11, Arkfeld airmailed a pass to Van Baale for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Schwery added the extra point which would be the final score off the night for the Cyclones.
"They had a good connection tonight," Bladt said. "It was the third or fourth read on the play, so it was amazing that Gabe was able to find him deep. Usually that's not even an option on that type of play. It's more of a decoy. If you get dropped off, and you're standing back there by yourself you might get the ball, so there was the opportunistic moment that he took and Gabe was able to find him."
In the fourth quarter, the Panther offense was making their way downfield hoping to avoid being shutout, but Cyclone Senior Masen Shults came up with a big stop to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard on their drive.
The Cyclones hung on for a 42-7 victory, punching their ticket to the postseason. Following the game, some of the seniors were emotional knowing it was their final football game at Merrill Field.
"Ever since I came to Harlan in 8th grade, it's truly been a special place," Reisz said. "Just the camaraderie with the teammates from conditioning on Wednesday's, you spend a lot of time there. I'm going to miss it for sure, and it's definitely a special place."
The Cyclones begin their postseason journey Friday on the road at 7 p.m. in the 3A - First Round Game against the Algona Bulldogs. Offensively, Senior Alex Manske has 1,456 passing yards, Junior William Weichert has 640 rushing yards, and Junior Evan Allie has 681 receiving yards, Defensively, Senior Landon Thompson has 54 tackles.
"In practice this week, we're going to have to really lock in," Arkfeld said. "Focus on what we can do and we'll have to really fight for this one."