Cyclones take first round exit against Bulldogs

The HCHS Cyclones football team knew coming in to their first playoff game on the road, they would face a big test with the 8-1 Algona Bulldogs, and they struggled right away with the Bulldog offense scoring 28 on them in the first quarter, en route to a 49-6 victory ending the Cyclones season.
“A lot of these guys have put in a lot of time and a lot of effort,” said Cyclone Head Coach Todd Bladt. “They’ve been part of a lot of great things. They didn’t want it to end this way, but sometimes life gives you a bad deal, and we got a bad deal and the cards weren’t coming for us tonight.”
The Bulldogs struck first early in the game when the special teams came out to kick the ball off, but it was fumbled by Cyclone Junior Hagen Sorensen and recovered by Senior Bulldog Ashton Moreno which turned into a scoring opportunity.
On a 1st and 15, Bulldog Sophomore quarterback Nathan Manske threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Senior Tate Slagle, which was followed by the extra point for Slagle giving the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
The Cyclones were hoping to stop the bleeding and were able to do so temporarily with stop on the defensive end from Seniors Jozef Reisz and Ben Leinen, along Junior Nick Gubbels and Senior Bryce Van Baale, but with less than five minutes remaining in the quarter Manske found Slagle once again for a 36-yard touchdown pass, followed by the extra point, making it 14-0.
“We had a few guys out of position,” Bladt said. “Linemen are so key on defense and they [Algona] caught us a few times and hit a couple of big passes and those things kind of bit us. Offensively, we got snake bit. They knew how to exploit what we were trying to do. They did a nice job. You’ve got to give them kudos.”
Less than two minutes later, the Bulldogs scored again on a 1st and 10 when Junior running back Evan Allie went on a 70-yard touchdown run, followed by the extra point from Slagle making it 21-0.
Not long into the second quarter, on a 3rd and 12, Cyclone Junior quarterback Gabe Arkfeld threw a ball that was intercepted by Junior bulldog Tate Garman, which turned into another scoring opportunity.
On a 2nd and goal, Limbaugh once again ran the ball into the end zone for a touchdown, followed by another extra point for Slagle making it a 35-0 game heading into halftime.
“It’s a pretty big tree, but we’ve got to start chomping on it,” Bladt said. “We’ve been down in that situation a couple of times. We were down 28 at Denison I think about ten years ago and we came back on that. We had it happen in the playoffs in the semifinals in 2017 and we came back from down 35 and lost by just two points.”
When the third quarter began, it was quiet for both teams offensively a majority of the quarter. However, multiple Cyclones continued to make stops on the defensive end of the field, including Sorensen who stopped the Bulldog offense on 1st and 10. However with just under six minutes remaining, the Bulldogs tacked on another touchdown, this time Manske went to Limbaugh for a 24-yard touchdown run expanding the Bulldog lead to 41-0. Slagle added the extra point.
For good measure on the next play, the Cyclones were able to avoid the shutout when on a 1st and 10, Arkfeld found Reisz for a 49-yard touchdown pass making it a 42-6 Bulldog lead. The Cyclone attempted a 2-point conversion on the next play, but were unsuccessful with it.
The Cyclones finish their season with a 6-4 record with wins against Denison, Glenwood, Perry, Nevada, Atlantic, and Knoxville.
“These are resilient kids,” Bladt said. “They understand how big things are here in Harlan. They came together, got here, and that’s a huge deal. I’m proud of them for doing that. I’m proud of this group for what they were able to accomplish after week five.”
Seniors Reisz, Van Baale, Leinen, Landen Kaufman, Lukas Francis, Weston Reisz, Spencer Fink, Caden Bruck, Masen Shults, Nolan Schwery, Thomas Kurtz, Hayden Soma, Brett Heese, Jacob Brouse, Alex Heithoff, Austin Spray, Kayden Erwin, and Malcolm McDonald will not return.
One of Bladt’s coaches will not return in Mark Kohorst, who is retiring at the end of the school year.
“He’s a special guy to me,” Bladt said of Kohorst. “I’ve been coaching with him since 2008. He taught me in high school. He’s a great person. 2005 is when he took over. He’s been the offensive coordinator here for 20 seasons. It’s going to be tough to replace a guy like him. He’s somebody who I look up too.”
Despite losing 18 seniors, Bladt is optimistic about the future of Cyclone football whether its returners or new faces that join the program.
“The offseason starts tomorrow, so I guess we better get started,” he said.