CHERRYVALE — Airing it out with the best team in school history watching from the stands, the Cherryvale Chargers blasted the Bluestem Lions, 42-18, on Friday night in Week 7 action.
Friday’s win aligned with Cherryvale honoring the 1975 team that placed runner-up in the state, the school’s best-ever finish, for its 50-year anniversary.
“We wanted to start fast,” Cherryvale head coach Harry Hester said. “We wanted to honor the 1975 state runner-up team that was here to be honored. That’s how you respect teams in the past — you play well when they’re here to watch you. That team threw the ball a lot, so we wanted to throw the ball a little bit. I thought we came out very well. We played outstanding on defense. The game never felt in danger.”
Cherryvale quickly built up a 20-0 lead before Bluestem briefly made it a game with two straight touchdowns, bringing the score to 20-12 with 9:32 left in the first half.
Cherryvale scored twice more in the second quarter, including a 32-yard field goal from Luis Teitgen, to bring a 29-12 advantage to the locker room.
“I just try to stay calm,” Hester said. “If I do that, they’ll stay calm and confident. Bluestem is better and they’ve got some guys. So we just had to stay the course. Being in some close games has helped us.”
Lighting up the sky, Cherryvale quarterback Wyatt Duncan completed 8-of-12 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns.
Remington John added a touchdown pass on a trick play for the Chargers in the second half.
Zeke Thronton hauled three catches for 127 yards and two scores.
“Usually, we can run the ball pretty well,” Hester said. “We hit some big runs a few times. But we’ve got to be consistent in our passing. We’ve been working on that in the last couple of weeks. We’ve focused on that in 7-on-7. Our guys ran good routes and made plays. We thought it’d be there tonight. We thought our line could protect. We want to attack you where we can. We can look different every week, so I’d hate to scout us.”
Reyce Booe led the Chargers with 61 yards rushing on 10 carries.
Cooper Smith led Cherryvale with 7.5 tackles.
Cherryvale, which had struggled in recent years, improved to 4-3 overall with the win and just one regular season tilt left.
“Our senior leadership had goals at the beginning of the year,” Hester said. “They wanted to have a winning record. They wanted to make the playoffs. Those are all in sight. We’ve gotten better and we try to keep harping on the little things. That’s keeping them motivated.”
Up next
Cherryvale heads west to face Fredonia in Week 8.
“They’re pretty big upfront and they’ll do a good job of scheming,” Hester said. “It’s Senior Night at Fredonia. So we’ll have to handle their energy. They’ll be dangerous with nothing to lose. And we do. So we’ll get the guys’ minds right.”
