HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt defense got off to as bad of a start as they possibly could on Monday night when the Cubs’ season opened at home against Cherryvale.
On the game’s opening play, the Chargers ran the ball around the left side of the offensive line and down the sideline for a 59-yard touchdown and took the early 6-0 lead.
“The first play of the game,” Humboldt coach Jeremy Weilert said. “I don’t think we were ready mentally.”
It looked like it may be a long night for the defense, but they quickly turned it around, by loading up against the Charger ground and daring the passing attack to beat them.
The strategy worked well and they didn’t allow any more points to close out the first half. The defensive highlight of the first half was an interception by junior Wyatt Seufert.
Unfortunately, the Cub offense wasn’t able to get itself going either.
The team mustered just one play of over play of over 10 yards. That big play was a 41-yard run by Conor Haviland to open the second quarter, but on the following play, a fumble ended the drive and threat at the 12-yard line.
The Cubs lost three fumbles in the first half and went into halftime trailing 6-0.
After an interception ended their first drive of the half, the Cubs finally were able to get their offense going.
Facing a second-and-10, quarterback Kyler Allen hit Seufert for a 10-yard gain. Two plays later, Haviland broke off a 14-yard run and got the team down to the 19-yard line.
Two plays later, Allen took matters into his own hands and found a lane down the right sideline and into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.
A Haviland interception got the ball back for the Cubs, but they quickly gave it back. The defense stood strong again and forced a three-and-out.
Haviland took the ensuing punt back to the Cherryvale 12-yard line.
“Conor is very athletic, but not only athletic, he brings a lot of football knowledge and knows how to play the game,” Weilert said. “He is going to start seeing some more time on Friday nights, because he is smart and athletic enough.”
The Cubs couldn’t punch in the touchdown, however, and they turned the ball back over to the Chargers.
Another interception — this one by Cooper Jaro — gave the Cubs the ball in Charger again, but a pair of sacked derailed that drive.
The Chargers then went on a 12-play drive to get them down to the Humboldt two-yard line with 32 seconds left. The defense stood strong with two stops on running plays and forced the Chargers to burn all their remaining timeouts.
Without any timeouts, the Cherryvale coaches turned to the pass. Cub freshman Jackson Aikins jumped a pass route and made a game-saving interception to force overtime.
The Cubs got the ball to begin overtime. A sack on first down put the offense behind the chains but Allen hit Seufert for 17-yard go-ahead touchdown.
“Kyler is a junior and stepped in,” Weilert said. “He did a pretty good job.”
Another interception – this one by Haviland – sealed the game.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” Weilert said. “We stepped up and made plays when Cherryvale had opportunities.”
DEFENSIVE DUEL: Cubs defeat Chargers in overtime in 2016 opener
