When his winless West Prairie/Southeastern football team hit the road Friday night to take on undefeated West Central in an Illinois 8-Man Football Association Central West matchup, first-year Cyclones’ Head Coach Mark Benson knew his squad would have to devise a different game plan to throw at the Central West leaders.
And throw they did. Senior quarterback Peyton Totten completed a season-high 25-of-35 pass attempts for 262 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. But it still wasn’t enough as the Heat defeated WP/SE 58-22.
Senior running back Aidan Garner led West Central with six touchdowns - five rushing and one on a 39-yard pass reception - as the Heat finished with 483 yards of total offense in the contest.
The hosts took the opening kickoff and marched 63 yards in five plays that culminated with a 45-yard touchdown run by Garner at the 9:54 mark.
Garner also ran in the two-point conversion to give West Central the early 8-0 lead.
WP/SE would turn the ball over just a minute later when Totten was sacked and fumbled, giving the Heat the ball at the Cyclones’ 20.
Junior running back Graham Kelly capped the five-play drive with a twoyard touchdown plunge and Garner added the two-point conversion to extend the advantage out to 16-0.
The WP/SE offense went three-and-out on its next possession and were forced to punt the ball away as the Heat took over at their own 37 to begin their next drive.
West Central moved the ball downfield and Kelly finished the drive with a 26-yard scoring run with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
Garner added his third two-point conversion of the period to make it a 24-0 score after one quarter.
The Cyclones tried to regain some momentum on its next two possessions by stretching out the offense and going to the air against the Heat defense.
The first series got the ball to the West Central 40 before a Totten pass was intercepted by the Heat’s Gage Troutman.
That turnover allowed West Central to extend its lead on a 44-yard touchdown gallop by Garner midway through the second quarter.
Garner would also run in his fourth two-point conversion attempt to put West Central up 32-0.
WP/SE finally got the offense rolling on its next possession as the Cyclones marched 69 yards in nine plays. They got on the scoreboard when Totten connected with senior tight end Eli DeCounter on a four-yard touchdown toss late in the quarter.
Totten found sophomore Hayden Wilcox open for the two-point conversion to make it a 32-8 score.
The hosts would answer quickly on their next drive as the Heat went 64 yards in only three plays as Garner broke loose for his third touchdown of the half - this time on a 61-yard sprint with just over two minutes remaining in the first half.
The two-point conversion was no good to leave the score at 38-8.
Another turnover by WP/ SE would set up another score for West Central as Wilcox fumbled the ensuing kickoff return giving the ball back to the Heat at the Cyclones’ 43.
Junior quarterback Colton Spence hit Garner on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 1:27 to go, but the twopoint conversion attempt failed, giving West Central a 44-8 lead at halftime.
WP/SE came out after the half and starting at its own 48, drove 52-yards in six plays to cut into the deficit.
Totten found Wilcox in the back of the endzone who managed to catch the tipped pass for a touchdown. Totten then threw to DeCounter for the twopoint conversion to get the visitors within 44-16.
The Heat answered again by putting together a nine-play, 51-yard drive as Garner would score his fourth rushing touchdown midway through the period on an 11-yard run to make it 50-16.
WP/SE would turn the ball over on downs soon after, but the Heat could not capitalize and would be stopped at the Cyclones’ 21 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.
That was when WP/SE put together one of its best scoring drives of the season to start the fourth quarter.
Beginning at their own 21, the Cyclones used a balanced attack to march 79 yards in 12 plays and a Totten to Wilcox seven-yard touchdown toss capped the drive with 5:11 left in the game.
The two-point attempt failed to make it 50-22.
Garner wasn’t through yet for the night though as he capped a five play, 63-yard drive for the Heat with a 25-yard touchdown run his fifth rushing touchdown and sixth for the game with about three minutes to go.
Spence added the twopoint conversion to make it 58-22 and West Central would hold on from there and improve to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Central West.
WP/SE recorded 304 yards of total offense despite rushing for only 42 yards on the night.
Cyclones’ head coach Mark Benson still knows the importance of that.
“We’ve been working on that for a while now, but I feel that to be a better, serious football team, we’ve got to be able to run the ball,” said Benson. “Of course, we’re still struggling with that. It’s also important for the kids to have fun and it’s fun throwing the ball and having big pass plays.”
Sophomore tight end Gannon Shipman led the Cyclones’ receiving corps with 11 catches for 128 yards while DeCounter finished with eight catches for 89 yards and one touchdown. Wilcox also added six receptions for 45 yards along with two touchdowns.
Garner finished the night by rushing for 286 yards on 16 carries and five touchdowns while also catching two passes for 46 yards and one touchdown as the Heat had 483 yards of total offense in the contest.
One major concern for Benson was the number of injured players the Cyclones have as only 15 players were able to dress for the game.
“We were without our starting tailback, our starting fullback,and our backup running back,” said Benson. “Yeah, we were pretty short handed. But, we wanted Eli DeCounter to get the ball and Gannon Shipman’s a big target and they both have great hands.”
Benson also had some praise for Totten and the offense overall.
“It’s still kind of a new scheme so to get in there and show some poise and some success is a great experience for us,” Benson added. “It gives us a lot of options and it gives other teams a lot to work on. That bodes well for us moving forward.”
WP/SE fell to 0-7 for the season and 0-5 in the Central West and will now enjoy a much-needed bye week before heading to Amboy on Oct. 16 to take on threetime defending I8FA state champion Amboy-Lamoille- Ohio in a non-divisional contest.
Benson is hoping the bye week will be more beneficial than not.
“The kids know what we’re up against,” said Benson. “That lull in the action is a double-edged sword. I think it’ll be more positive than negative.”
