RILEY Riley County cheers and Queens We Are the Champions echoed through Hal Prichard Stadium Friday night as a solemn bunch of Humboldt High players gathered around their coach after losing 46-16 in the 2A Sub-State Championship game to the host Falcons.
I know it hurts, Cub head coach Logan Wyrick said. Its supposed to hurt. If it doesnt hurt right now then it didnt mean enough. It hurts because its special and you worked for it.
With heads mostly hung, Wyrick continued to tell the players how proud he was of them and how proud they should be of themselves after finishing the year 11-1, the best finish in school history.
It wasnt the way the Cubs wanted things to end, though. Not even close.
Heading in, Humboldt hoped a defense that was so rock solid a week ago versus a strong Rossville team would have enough to stop the onslaught of Riley Countys one-two-punch of quarterback Garrett Harmison and running back Mikey Waggoner.
Waggoner was a battering ram, ending the day with five touchdowns, each in goalline situations. Harmison chipped in two scores, both on the ground, and connected on key passes when needed.
Their offensive success and a lot of Humboldts downfall came down to Riley Countys big offensive and defensive lines who forced the issue from the first snap and kept the Cubs off balance throughout the game.
Theyre big up front and they have some good ballplayers up there, Wyrick said. And to have success, thats what you need to have. Now I think we have some pretty good guys up front ourselves, but obviously we met our match tonight.
Add in several drive-killing penalties and four turnovers on the night, and that set the stage for a rough night at the office for the Cubs and their many fans who made the nearly three-hour trip to Riley.
THERE WERE bright spots.
The Cubs defense forced two takeaways and each of those (an interception by senior Kyler Allen in the second quarter and a fumble recovery by senior Dagen Goodner in the fourth) led to their only two touchdown drives on the night.
Those were good and it was nice to see us respond, Wyrick said. But youd also like to see them take advantage of more than opportunities than just when the other team messes up.
Up until that first touchdown drive, the Falcons had more touchdowns (4) than Humboldt had first downs (3.
The Cubs started to make a push in the second quarter before junior Conor Haviland broke free. He went through four different Riley County defenders while skirting the Humboldt sideline for a 23-yard score.
It was a great run, Wyrick said. It was just effort. He bounced out a little bit but once he got vertical he put his foot into the ground and made a play. Thats what hes got to do.
The second final touchdown, coming midway through the fourth quarter, was kickstarted by a long pass from Goodner to senior tight end Tucker Hurst down the middle of the field. A couple plays later, Kyler Allen cut through the Falcon defense on a 10-yard run to get within 39-16.
