West Prairie/Southeastern kept the game close for one quarter before Galva erupted for 27 second quarter points and the visiting Wildcats cruised to a 55-22 victory over the Cyclones on Senior Night in their season finale last Friday evening at Baumann Field.
WP/SE finished 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the I8FA West Division, while Galva improved to 5-4 for the season and 4-3 in league play.
WP/SE used an impressive 12-play, 52-yard drive that took over seven minutes to take the early lead.
Quarterback Tristan Hester found running back Austin Nelson for a 25-yard touchdown toss with 4:54 left in the opening quarter. Nelson ran in the two-point conversion to put the Cyclones up 8-0.
Galva responded quickly on its first play from scrimmage as quarterback MJ Louck broke free for a 77-yard touchdown run at the 4:47 mark. The two-point attempt failed leaving WP/ SE up 8-6.
The Cyclones were stopped on downs on their next possession and Galva needed only five plays to take the lead as Louck connected with receiver JP Sloan on a 25-yard touchdown with only 14 seconds left in the quarter.
Running back Blake Stahl ran in the two-point conversion to give the Wildcats a 14-8 lead heading into the second quarter.
Following a 60-yard kickoff return by Bryson Tanner, the Cyclones needed only three plays to hit paydirt as Hester rambled in for a five-yard touchdown with 10:43 left in the first half.
The two-point attempt failed to leave the score deadlocked at 14-14.
Galva would take the lead for good with 8:28 to go in the half when Louck hooked up with Stahl on a 42-yard touchdown pass, giving the visitors a 20-14 lead.
WP/SE would threaten a short time later when a Nelson punt deflected off of a Galva player and the Cyclones recovered at the Wildcats’ 35.
But a Hester fumble on the ensuing play was picked up by Galva’s Reid Harris who sprinted 66 yards for a touchdown with 5:48 remaining.
Louck hit Tommy Funke in the endzone for the two-point conversion to make it 28-14.
Galva’s defense came up with another big play when Harris picked off a Hester pass to give the Wildcats the ball in Cyclones’ territory.
Louck would cap the five-play drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge with 3:24 left in the first half. Stahl kicked the PAT to make it 35-14.
After forcing another WP/SE punt, Galva would extend its lead with only 31 seconds left in the half as Louck connected with JP Sloan for a five-yard touchdown. Stahl added the PAT to make it 41-14 at intermission.
The Cyclones’ defense stopped the Wildcats on downs to start the second half and Nelson capitalized as he broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run with 9:59 left in the third quarter.
Hester threw to Eli DeCounter on the two-point conversion to get WP/SE back to within 41-22.
But Galva answered midway through the quarter by going 74 yards in five plays.
Stahl sprinted 55 yards for a touchdown with 5:28 to go. Louck completed the two-point pass to Harris to give the Wildcats a 49-22 lead.
The Cyclones appeared headed for another score on their next possession, but a bad snap sailed over the head of Hester at the Galva 12 where Cyrus Hurd picked up the loose ball and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown with 1:33 remaining in the third quarter to make it 55-22.
Nelson led the Cyclones’ offense in his final game by rushing for 127 yards on 26 carries and one touchdown. It was the last game for Hester as well as he completed 4-of-7 passes for 87 yards and one touchdown along with an interception.
“When it’s senior night and we have eight seniors, I think we came out ready to go,” said WP/SE head coach John McCormick. “Second quarter, we kind of had some issues as we’ve had before. We had some turnovers tonight that hurt us a bit. Give Galva a lot of credit.”
Along with Nelson and Hester, seniors Hunter Jackson, Emanuel Barrientos, Bryer Dolan, Jy’Aire Flora Durham, Austin Stigall, and Jack Carpenter all played their final game for the Cyclones.
“At the end when we talked, obviously you’ve got some seniors who are emotional which is normal,” said McCormick. “That happens every year. You’ve got some guys who really love the game and some of them may have the opportunity to keep playing and some of them aren’t.”
“That’s just how it works. When you’re done with football, you’re done with football,” McCormick added.
