FREDONIA – At the end of the first quarter, the Fredonia Yellowjackets were within 2 points of the Humboldt Cubs by a score of 14-12. They would not come that close to the lead for the remainder of the night as the cubs went on to outscore their Tri-Valley League 36-6 rivals in the remaining three quarters en route to a final score of 50-18.
“We just keep preaching to start better in the 2nd quarter. We’re still feeling out what we need to do, especially defensively. We had to replace so many guys on the defense from last year. It’s an ongoing work there. Thankfully the offense has been clicking for us,” said Humboldt head coach Logan Wyrick.
Leading the charge for the Cubs was senior Conor Haviland who rushed for 239 yards on 12 carries and scored, or was involved in, 5 of the Cubs 7 offensive touchdowns. Haviland was 3 for 5 with 45 yards passing, including throwing for one touchdown.
“A lot of things he does you can’t help but say ‘I don’t know how he does that’ if I’m being honest. An example was in the game on 4th down and 5 on the 15 yard line he picked up a bad snap, had to go back for it, was able to pick up the 5 yards needed, next thing you know he hits the edge and takes it the remaining 10 yards for the score,” noted Wyrick.
Senior Isiah Coronado was a difficult body to bring down for Fredonia as he went on for 102 yards rushing on 10 carries and two touchdowns of his own. Coach Wyrick also credited the improvement of his offensive line this week, who has been without a returning starter early on in 2019.
“Speaking of the offensive line we’re starting to come together. We’ve been without senior Taylor Lassman due to illness, so trying to find continuity up front has been a challenge each week; however, we’ve been able to open some holes lately.”
Conor Haviland was also involved in the defensive side for the Cubs recording 1 interception and 8 tackles. He was tied with senior Gunner Elder for team-leading tackles.
Humboldt recorded 3 sacks over the Yellowjacket defense courtesy of seniors Speed Hoepker and Kyle Kobold along with junior Blake Walker. The Cubs defense shut out Fredonia in the 2nd and 3rd quarters before allowing a touchdown in the final quarter of play when the game was well out of reach.
“We got spoiled the last few years on defense. We’ve allowed double-digit points the last couple of weeks, something we didn’t do until late in the season with the JV in. We’ve had the luxury of our offense scoring that we can move some defensive personnel around to find the right combination. Kobold had a great week 1 and did ok in week 2, we’ve asked him to move around some and you can see that,” said Wyrick
“With Walker, we’re trying to find a spot for the junior. Elders is a body, one of the best overall athletes in the school. So to have him out on the football field and if we can find a spot for him in the next week or so, settle down, and find our overall defensive identity we will be in pretty good shape.”
The Cubs improve to 2-0 overall and 2-0 against Tri-Valley opponents. The schedule states that they will be on the road against Eureka, who is now 1-1 following their loss to Caney Valley, however, Eureka’s stadium will not be ready for the week 3 match-up and the game will be played on neutral ground in Iola High School’s stadium.
“The neutral sight will be interesting and I’m glad they decided to do this. I think our fans and players are looking forward to it. It’ll be fun,” said Wyrick.
“We knew Eureka was going to be improved over last year. They were already a much improved last year over the season previous. Returning a lot of stars, they’re going to be a handful for sure. They do so much with a spread offense. There’s not a lot of teams that do what they do. We have a lot of athletes as well, so we hope we can match up with them. They’re going to be a team to beat in the district they’re in.”
Fredonia is now 1-1 to start the season overall and 1-1 against Tri-Valley opponents. They will host the Erie Red Devils who picked up a hard-fought win over the Neodesha Bluestreaks on Friday night.