Comet can’t break ‘Stangs, drop homecoming game 47-32

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Those who left early to get prepped for the Charles City homecoming dance while their team was trailing Independence by 29- and 28-point deficits, missed some second-half offensive pyrotechnics that suddenly pulled the Comets within two possessions of the Mustangs with the possibility of an incredible comeback wafting in the air.

Charles City scored 20 points in the fourth quarter — 13 of which in a span of 18 seconds. The Comets were still down by 15 (47-32) with just 1:46 left in regulation. But with Charles City and their placekicker Derek Milligan having already displayed a mastery in art of onside kicking while going 2 of 2 during the late surge, Independence fans had reason to worry — or at least to stick around until the end.

When Independence managed to secure the third onside kick, the drama soon abated and the aforementioned score became the final.

Though Charles City fought back to make a game out it, for the most part the horses had already escaped from the barn early on as the Mustangs jumped out to a 21-0 lead with 6:14 remaining in the first half giving the Comets an overwhelming uphill battle from there.

The first two Independence possessions were back-breakers for variant reasons. The first drive went 74 yards before being capped by a Logan Schmitt’s 7-yard TD pass to Zach Snyder. The methodical run-driven trek took 8 minutes and 15 seconds off the clock.

Time of possession apparently was not a concern the next time Independence got the ball. On the first play Schmitt hit Cyrus Butters in sprint-stride on a slant pattern before Butters out-ran Comets defenders all the way to the end zone for an 83-yard catch-and-run play.

For the night, Schmitt completed 10 of 14 passes for 272 yards and five touchdowns. Butters had three of those while scoring every time he caught the ball with 40-yard and 22-yard TDs.

Seth House had four touchdowns for the Mustangs, three of which came on the ground as he led all rushers with 111 yards on 17 carries.

Junior Dylan Koresh turned in one of his better performances of the year on both sides of the ball for the Comets. After Schmitt’s flip-pass to House, who was running parallel to Schmitt just beyond the line of scrimmage as Schmitt scrambled out of the pocket, resulted in a 10-yard TD and the Mustangs’ 21-0 lead, Koresh returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to the Mustang 31.

With the Comets now fired up, Tyreque Baker burst into the red zone with a 16-yard run before later punching it in from 3 yards out to get Charles City on the board.

Butters’ 40-yard TD reception and House’s 3-yard TD run gave Independence a 34-6 lead with 4:36 left in the third, before Koresh scored on a 17-yard run.

Later after Butters’ third TD catch gave the Mustangs their biggest lead of the game (41-12) with 11:36 remaining in regulation, another big KO return from Koresh helped set up Mike Cranshaw’s 1-yard QB sneak across the goal line.

When Independence got the advantage back up to 28 with a little more than three minutes left, the Comets began to air it out.

Cranshaw connected with junior Colton Slinger, who out-jumped and out-fought his defender for a 34-yard pass play that set up Cranshaw’s 4-yard TD.

Then after the Charles City’s second successful onside kick recovery, Cranshaw hooked up with fellow senior Tre Walker for a 45-yard pass play that got the Comets to the Mustang 4.

From there, Cranshaw found Elliott Sinnwell in the end zone for what would be the final points in a shoot-out-like final.

Koresh had 47 yards on eight carries to lead the Comets. Cranshaw was 10 of 19 passing for 162 yards and a TD.

One area the Comets showed marked improvement was taking care of the football. They only turned the ball over once, which came late in the game. The Comets have been plagued with multiple turnovers in each of their previous four games.

For Charles City, the loss dropped them to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in Class 3A-District 3 play.

Independence, which started the season a week earlier than most teams in the state, improved to 3-3 and 2-1.

The next game for the Comets is Sept. 23 when they travel to Vinton-Shellsburg, which defeated South Tama 28-0 on Friday.

INDEPENDENCE 47,
CHARLES CITY 32

Scoring By Quarters

INDEPENDENCE 13 8 13 13 — 47

CHARLES CITY 0 6 6 20 — 32

Scoring Summary

IND — Zach Snyder 7-yard pass from Logan Schmitt (PAT pass failed) 6-0, 3:45 1st

IND — Cyrus Butters 83-yard pass from Schmitt (Sean Geertsema PAT kick) 13-0, 1:22 1st

IND — Seth House 10-yard pass from Schmitt (Schmitt PAT pass from House) 21-0, 6:14 2nd

CC — Tyreque Baker 3-yard run (PAT kick failed) 21-6, 5:18 2nd

IND — Butters 40-yard pass from Schmitt (Geertsema PAT kick) 28-6, 9:17 3rd

IND — House 3-yard run (PAT run failed) 34-6, 4:36 3rd

CC — Dylan Koresh 17-yard run (PAT pass failed) 34-12, 2:24 3rd

IND — Butters 22-yard pass from Schmitt (Geertsema PAT kick) 41-12, 11:36 4th

CC — Mike Cranshaw 1-yard run (Derek Milligan PAT kick) 41-19, 8:45 4th

IND — Kaine Millard 1-yard run (PAT kick failed) 47-19, 3:02 4th

CC — Cranshaw 4-yard run (Milligan PAT kick) 47-25, 2:04 4th

CC — Elliott Sinnwell 4-yard pass from Cranshaw (PAT kick failed) 47-32, 1:46 4th