Cyclones Take First Loss At The Hands Of West Holt

Two of the top teams in Class D1 meet in Orchard on Friday with a district title on the line.

West Holt and Clearwater-Orchard went to battle with the Huskies coming away victorious 35-20 and locking up the district championship. 

The Huskies started strong, pulling down an interception on O-C's Chris Kester on their first possession. They then drove it downfield and scored on a Payton Williams dive into the end zone. On their next drive, West Holt again scored, this time when quarterback Bryce Kerkman took a quarterback keeper 52 yards to pay dirt to put the Huskies up 14-0. 

The two teams traded blows in the second quarter. Kerkman connected with Kooper Jelinek from just two yards out on the first play of the quarter to put the Huskies up 21-0. Clearwater-Orchard countered shortly after when Kester made his way into the end zone, set up by a beautiful 43-yard completion to Jacob Long.

Scoring was light in the third, with West Holt adding a Jordan Tasler score to go up 28-8.

In the fourth, it looked like Clearwater-Orchard was going to mount the comeback, started by a diving grab by Creston Bertschinger to make the game 28-14. Ryan Wilhelm then broke through the protection for a punt block that set O-C up on their 29 yard line. However, pick six by Shayden Neptune put the game out of reach. Austin Pokorny added a late touchdown grab with :30 to go from Kester to bring the game to a close.

Kester finished the day going 10-for-25 through the air for 161 yards and two scores. He also racked up 38 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

His top target on the day was Long, who had a huge day despite the loss. He hauled in four catches for 65 yards and added 66 yards on the ground on just 11 carries. The junior was also a defensive force for the Cyclones, tying Ryan Wilhelm for a team-high 13 tackles. 

Clay Thiele had three catches for 39 yards, Bertschinger added two grabs for 42 yards and Pokorny had the one catch for 15 yards. 

Thiele, Wilhelm and Andrew Steskal all recorded sacks on defense for Clearwater-Orchard.