Glenwood drops to 0-3 with 38-22 loss to Harlan

Harlan quarterback Gabe Arkfeld tossed five touchdown passes as the Cyclones handed Glenwood its third straight loss to open the season in a 38-22 victory Friday at the Glenwood Athletic Complex.

The Cyclones (2-1) led 21-7 at the half and turned that margin into a 35-14 lead after three quarters in the win over the Rams (0-3).

Glenwood coach Cory Faust said he was disappointed with the outcome but saw plenty of positives to build on.

“The boys competed hard for four quarters, and never gave up,” he said. “We continue to get a lot of first year varsity players experience, and a lot of the deficiencies that we had the previous week showed great improvement.

One area on defense we focused on this week was striking blockers at the point of attack, and I think we made a lot of progress there.”

Arkfeld was an efficient 14-of-18 passing for 269 yards on his big night. Four of his TD tosses went to tight end Jozef Reisz who hauled in seven receptions for 138 yards.

After giving up 208 yards rushing per game (5.2 yards per carry) in its two previous games, the Rams did effectively control the Cyclone run game, holding them to 92 yards on 31 carries (3.0 yards per carry).

“We fit the run better as a team,” Faust said. “Jacob Aust was one player I thought really showed what he can do from his defensive end position. The stat sheet doesn’t always show it, but a lot of times the players who make the play on defense are the ones building a wall at the point of attack and forcing the ball to go back to unblocked teammates. Jacob has outstanding strength and speed, and I’m excited to see what he can do in the weeks to come.”

Aust finished with two tackles.

Brodie Schafer led the Rams in tackles with 7.5, including five solo stops, from his middle linebacker position.  

Offensively, Cole Staudt has perhaps his best passing game of the season completing 14-of-26 passes for 286 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a touchdown.

“Cole continues to gain confidence at the QB position and he also did a nice job at linebacker on defense,” Faust said.

Kaden Crouch and Pauley Simonetti both went over 100 yards receiving, showing big playmaking ability. Crouch grabbed five balls for 111 yards and a TD and Simonetti had five catches for 125 yards.

Glenwood heads out on the road to face Denison (1-2) in a non-district match up.

“We’ll face another down hill running offense this week,” Faust said. “I’m excited to get started on another week of improvement and see this team compete.”