By Alex Benzegala, [email protected]
Humboldt, IA -The Humboldt Wildcats are off to the State Semifinals for the first time since 2006 after defeating Independence in the 3A Quarterfinals 42-21 on Friday. The Wildcats were led by Senior quarterback Caden Matson who ran for 230 yards and threw for a 114 yards and had 4 total touchdowns on the night. Humboldt was stingy on defense, forcing two interceptions and holding expected all-state running back Marcus Beatty to under 100 yards rushing.
Humboldt started the scoring on their first drive in the first quarter on this short scoring run.
.That made it 7-0 and the Wildcats added another touchdown to make it 14-0 after a Lance Coon run from about 20 yards out. Marcus Beatty threw a touchdown pass to cut the lead to Humboldt lead 14-7 early in the 2nd quarter but the Wildcats answered with a 43 yard touchdown pass from Matson to Corey Dettmann to make it 21-7. Independence got momentum late in the 2nd quarter however with 2 touchdowns to tie the game at 21-21 at the half.
Humboldt came out fired up in the 2nd half, scoring on this Lance Coon run, his 2nd of the game.
The Wildcats never looked back, outscoring the Mustangs 21-0 in the second half. A Will Orness touchdown catch from Matson made it 35-21 and the final score of the game came from Matson on a short run. Humboldt Head Coach Derrick Elman couldn’t be prouder of his team.
Humboldt improves to 11-0 on the season and faces 11-0 Harlan in the 3A State Semifinals from the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls on Saturday at 7, on KHBT 97.7 the Bolt.