Cyclones strike early in 35-7 victory

No. 4-ranked Harlan (Class 3A, Associated Press poll) wasted no time in showing off its prolific passing attack at Creston/O-M’s homecoming game Friday night at Panther Field.

Harlan sophomore quarterback Teagon Kasperbauer, ranked third in Class 3A passing yards (1,118) going into the game, connected with junior receiver Connor Frame twice for touchdowns in the Cyclones’ first seven plays from scrimmage. Frame caught two other touchdown passes as the Cyclones sailed to a 35-7 victory.

Joey Moser scored the other Harlan touchdown on a 35-yard punt return that made it 20-0 in the second quarter.

After the early flurry of points, the Panthers’ defense settled in and played competitively as the offense also got a spark from the return of senior receiver Brance Baker, who had not played since suffering a shoulder injury in the Sept. 11 Lewis Central game. Baker’s 21-yard reception helped advance an eight-play Panther drive in the second quarter, but the Harlan secondary batted down a fourth-down pass at their 30-yard line.

Harlan maintained possession for the final four minutes of the second quarter, extending the lead to 27-0 on Frame’s third TD catch of the half for 18 yards with 26 seconds left.

It proved to be a costly additional touchdown for the Panthers, as the mercy rule running clock quickly dissolved the game at 35-0 after Frame cut into an opening while making a catch for a 20-yard touchdown at 2:52 in the third period.

Panther TD

After nine consecutive scoreless quarters, dating back to midway through the Sept. 18 Glenwood game, the Panther offense reached the end zone with 2:50 remaining in the game. Kayleb Howard, who had substituted at safety for the injured Evan Bruce earlier in the game, got behind the Cyclone defense to haul in a 46-yard touchdown pass from Cole Strider.

Frame’s four touchdown catches is two short of the school record of six in one game by Nick Foss. Frame finished with seven receptions for 185 yards. Kasperbauer completed 13 of 26 passes for 268 yards.

“They’ve got some athletes at wide receiver and we knew the quarterback is a good player,” Creston/O-M head coach Brian Morrison said. “We missed a tackle on the first one and the second one we weren’t lined up right. After that, our guys dug down deep and started to play, but it was pretty tough getting down 14-0 like that.”

Strider finished with 16 completions in 31 passing attempts for 166 yards for the Panthers. Baker had six catches for 65 yards. The rushing game was limited to 58 net yards, led by Briley Hayes with 28 yards on 14 carries.

“I think our offense improved overall,” Morrison said. “Cole Strider played his best game all year, and having Baker back really helps a ton. He’s a special player. But we still have to run the football better to win football games.”

Harlan coach Todd Bladt said his team was sharp early before some untimely mistakes negated opportunities to extend its lead.

“We got hot there early and then kind of had a lull,” Bladt said. “We thought they’d probably try to stop the run a little bit. They did stack it up in there and that opened some things up for us on the outside. Then we had a fumble down there inside the 10-yard line and we had two dropped balls for touchdowns. We have to clean up some of that stuff.”

Garon Wurster and Ethan Freeman recovered Harlan fumbles. Gage Skarda had a team-high 10 total tackles, with Wurster and Hayes each recording seven.

Bladt was pleased with his team’s defensive performance, except for the Panthers’ eight-play drive that consumed much of the second quarter.

“When number 83 (Baker) comes back for them, that kind of opens up some things they can do,” Bladt said. “Him and number 1 (Colby Burg) are kind of dual threats, so you can’t isolate on one guy out there. They marched down the field on us for awhile there, but we were able to get a fourth-down pass breakup.”

UP NEXT — The Cyclones (6-0 overall, 4-0 Class 3A District 9) host Lewis Central this week for the district championship. Lewis Central is 5-0 and 3-0 in district games, with last week’s scheduled game against Denison-Schleswig canceled.

Creston/O-M (1-5, 0-4) travels to Carroll Friday to conclude the regular season. The Tigers fell to Glenwood Friday, 28-21, to fall to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in district play.

Harlan 35, Creston/O-M 7

Points by quarter

Harl 14 13 8 0 — 35

C/O-M 0 0 0 7 — 7

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

H — Connor Frame 52 pass from Teagon Kasperbauer (Ashton Lyon kick), 10:18

H — Frame 65 pass from Kasperbauer (Lyon kick), 6:46

Second quarter

H — Joey Moser 35 punt return (kick failed), 7:43

H — Frame 18 pass from Kasperbauer (Lyon kick), 0:26

Third quarter

H — Frame 20 pass from Kasperbauer (Jameson Bieker run), 2:52

Fourth quarter

C/O-M — Kayleb Howard 47 pass from Cole Strider (Aidan Anderson kick), 2:50

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TEAM STATISTICS

C/O-M H

First downs 10 15

Rushes-yards 19-58 29-106

Passing 16-31-1 15-27-0

Passing yards 166 280

Total yards 224 386

Punts-avg. 6-34.6 3-36.0

Return yards 95 117

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2

Penalties-yards 2-15 4-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — C/O-M: Briley Hayes 14-28, Gage Skarda 3-19, Cole Strider 1-8, Carter Henderson 1-3. H: Mason Griffith 8-42.

PASSING — C/O-M: Cole Strider 14-29-1 for 152 yards; Kyle Strider 2-2-0 for 14 yards. H: Teagon Kasperbauer 13-26-0 for 268 yards.

RECEIVING — C/O-M: Brance Baker 6-65, Kayleb Howard 2-50, Derek Paup 3-24, Colby Burg 2-13, Ty Morrison 1-10, Keaton Street 1-4. H: Connor Frame 7-185.

PUNTS-AVG. — C/O-M: Derek Paup 6-34.6

TACKLE LEADERS (solo-assists) — C/O-M: Gage Skarda 1-9, Briley Hayes 2-5, Garon Wurster 1-6, Colby Burg 3-2, Andy Weis 0-5, Derek Paup 2-3, Tyson Stuart 1-3, Gannon Greenwalt 1-2, Avery Fuller 0-2.

INTERCEPTIONS — C/O-M: None. H: Aidan Hall 1.

PASS BREAKUPS — C/O-M: Brodie Wallace 1, Greenwalt 1, Paup 1.

TACKLES FOR LOSS (YARDS) — C/O-M: Paup 2-(-2), Connor Travis 1-(-1).