Comets fall to Huskies in opener 36-13

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

OELWEIN — Had they been playing baseball, the Comets would have batted .500 — at least on offense.

“We scored on two of our four possessions,” Charles City football head coach Bryan Bjorklund said of his team’s efficiency with the ball during Friday’s season-opener on the road against Oelwein. “That’s a percentage you like.”

Problem was the Huskies batted 1.000 when it came to fourth-down conversions, which — aided by a couple of interception turnovers — accounted for an overwhelming time of possession advantage paving way to a 36-13 Oelwein victory.

During their time-consuming drives, the Huskies were 5 of 5 whenever on the verge of turning it over on downs — actually, they were 7 of 7 when including back-to-back nullified touchdowns due to penalties before a third go at it resulted in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Oelwein junior quarterback Carter Jeanes to Hayden Rummel, which helped give the Huskies a 24-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Oelwein had taken a 16-0 lead at the half, but the Comets responded with a scoring drive to start the second half capped by Isaiah Roe’s spectacular 40-yard TD run.

As noted in numerous publications, Charles City had a great turnout of players for this season compared to seasons’ past. But the Comets are still a relatively young team with many playing varsity for the first time. Hopefully for Charles City, Roe — who showed great agility in the open field while thwarting would-be tacklers with his “juke” moves on way to compiling a game-high 127  rushing yards on just 7 carries — will be one of several breakout players for the Comets this season.

During the ensuing Oelwein possession, the Huskies were faced with a fourth-and-11 just inside Charles City’s 20-yard line. After being flushed out of the pocket, Jeanes escaped upfield but appeared to be stopped short of the first down.

“That could have been the turning point for us,” Bjorklund said of the juncture of the game that could have added to the Comets’ second-half momentum.

But when the chain-gang came out for a measurement, Oelwein got a new set of downs by the nose of the football.

When the drive extended into the fourth quarter and after the two nullified touchdowns, Jeanes — scrambling near the sidelines — was able to find Rummel in the end zone.

“That was a tough play for us,” Bjorklund said. “We needed to stop them. We didn’t give our offense much of a chance.”

With his downhill running style, Husky junior fullback Joel Ladeburg had 114 yards on 26 carries including TD runs of 1 and 8 yards.

Husky Ethan Detemmerman had 79 yards on just 4 carries including a 38-yard TD run. Detemmerman also had two interceptions on defense, returning one of them 70 yards all the way to Charles City’s 17-yard line.

Charles City junior quarterback Jordan Foster completed 6 of 10 pass attempts for 60 yards. Late in the game with the Comets facing a fourth-down situation of their own, Foster — with time running out on the play clock and no timeouts at his disposal — was able to get the snap in time and find Trevor Peterson in the corner of the end zone for a 5-yard TD pass.

Peterson earlier caught a play-action pass from Foster good for 20 yards to keep the drive alive.

Charles City senior Ethan Peterson, an All-District First Team linebacker from last season, made his presence known early with a series of tackles for losses or after little gain during Oelwein’s first-half possessions. Peterson went on to lead all tacklers with 13.5 stops and 10 solo tackles.

Fellow Comet senior Kayden Blunt, an All-District Second Team linebacker from last season, had 10.5 total tackles and 7 solos.

Charles City nearly scored on three of their four possessions. At the end of the Comets’ first possession, Jack Hansen attempted a 46-yard field goal and came thisclose from making it as the ball sailed just under the crossbar. That would have been a school record and likely one of the longest successful kicks in the state this season.

For Oelwein, Friday’s victory represented a milestone — Husky head coach Bob Lape picked up his 100th career coaching win.

Charles City will host New Hampton next Friday (Sept. 2). The Chickasaws defeated MFL MarMac 22-19 in their opener.

OELWEIN 36, CHARLES CITY 13

Scoring By Quarters

Charles City 0 0 6 7 — 13

Oelwein 8 8 0 20 —36

Individual Scoring

O — Joel Ladeburg 1-yard run (Brandon Tournier run), 8-0 8:26 1st

O — Carter Jeanes 6-yard run (Jeanes run), 16-0 6:21 2nd

CC — Isaiah Roe 40-yard run (Run failed), 16-6 10:30 3rd

O — Hayden Rummel 17-yard pass from Jeanes (Tournier run), 24-6 11:34 4th

O — Ethan Detemmerman 38-yard run (Run failed), 30-6 7:58 4th

O — Ladeburg 8-yard run (Run failed), 36-6 5:19 4th

CC — Trevor Peterson 5-yard pass from Jordan Foster (Jack Hansen kick), 36-13 2:15 4th

Individual Statistics

PASSING: Charles City, Jordan Foster 6-10, 61 yards, TD, INT; Isaiah Roe 0-1, INT; Oelwein, Carter Jeanes 3-5, 64 yards, TD.

RUSHING: Charles City, Isaiah Roe 7 carries 127 yards, TD; Kayden Blunt 2 carries, 18 yards; Oelwein, Josh Ladeburg 26 carries, 114 yards, 2 TDs; Ethan Detemmerman 4 carries, 79 yards, TD; Brandon Tournier 16 carries, 59 yards; Carter Jeanes 8 carries, 39 yards, TD.

RECEIVING: Charles City, Kayden Kasemeier 3 catches, 16 yards; Trevor Peterson 2 catches, 25 yards, TD; Josiah Cunnings 1 catch, 20 yards. Oelwein, Chris Rocha 2 catches, 47 yards; Hayden Rummel 1 catch, 17 yards, TD.

DEFENSE: Charles City, Ethan Peterson 13.5 total tackles, 11 solo tackles; Kayden Blunt 10. 5 total tackles, 7 solo tackles; Oelwein, Westin Woodson 7.5 total tackles, 6 solo tackles; Ethan Detemmerman 2 interceptions, 70 return yards.

RECORDS: Oelwein 1-0, Charles City 0-1