Strong start and finish not enough for Comets in 53-25 loss to No. 1-ranked Bulldogs

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — There weren’t too many happy campers when the Charles City Comets gathered during intermission of Friday’s home game against Algona.

After the Comets held their own against the Class 3A No. 1-ranked Bulldogs for the entire first quarter, the ‘Dogs broke loose for 40 unanswered points in the second quarter.

“There were a lot of angry people,” Charles City head coach Bryan Bjorklund said of the halftime gathering. “We’re a pretty diverse team, and a lot of our guys tend to hang out with their own group of friends away from the football field. But when it comes to football, we’re a family, and sometimes a family will have disagreements.

“Should a family break apart after airing out their disagreements, or should they come together? Our guys came together, and we played a much better second half.”

The Comets were down 53-6 before finishing the game with 19 unanswered points, making the final score (53-25) resemble less a blowout but rather a shootout … but with one side possessing more of the weapons.

One of those weapons for Algona was senior quarterback and future Iowa State Cyclone Alex Manske, who only threw nine passes all night, but nearly all of them left marks as he completed eight of nine attempts for 210 yards and five touchdowns.

In addition to throwing to two TD strikes to Tate Slagle, and connecting with Evan Allie and Tate Garman for two other scores, Manske perhaps best displayed his athletic ability and arm when he scrambled and broke free of several Comets harassing him in the backfield while shedding an inadvertent facemask grip, and unleashed a cruise missile to a wide-open Nathan Manske. The play resulted in a 67-yard score, but the cross-field pass traveled about 75 yards through the air.

Charles City sophomore quarterback Patrick Bruening also has a pretty good air which he showed when he connected with Kaden Littleton on a home crowd-rousing 82-yard TD which tied the game at 6-6 early in the second quarter.

Bruening also connected with Kamden Meek for another passing TD on a fourth-and-goal call from the 7-yard line late in the third quarter.

That started the late scoring surge by the Comets that included a 53-yard TD run by junior Deacon Caspers partly sprung from a well-placed downfield block by receiver Victor Ward Jr. Then on a brilliantly executed counter misdirection play, Brayden Ellis scored from 9-yards out to close the scoring with a little more than four minutes remaining in regulation.

Once again, the Comets showed they can move the ball with their downhill running attack and downfield passing game even against a top-ranked team anchored by defensive end standout Jack Limbaugh, who is due to join his longtime friend Manske at Iowa State next summer/fall.

With a game-high 189 yards on 34 carries, Caspers has already eclipsed 1,000 yards (1,002) five games into the season, and currently ranks No. 2 among Class 3A ball carriers and No. 7 among all classes.

With four games left in the regular season, the Comets’ all-time season rushing record of 1,259 yards set by Taylor Manning in 2009 is definitely within Caspers and his offensive line’s grasp.

Caspers and his line showed their mettle early in the game when they were pinned at their own half-yard line shortly after the opening kickoff. With hard-running by Caspers with his teammates often pushing the scrum forward whenever the Bulldogs stood up the point of attack, and Bruening and Littleton provoking a pair of pass-interference penalties, the Comets managed to advance deep into Bulldog territory. Though the drive eventually stalled, it took more than seven minutes off the clock while keeping Algona’s explosive offense on the sidelines.

The Comets were still in the game when they decided to gamble with a fake punt deep in their territory. But the pass from punter Littleton intended for Meek fell incomplete, giving Algona a short field to operate from and the Bulldogs soon capitalized with a 1-yard TD run by William Weichert that helped make the score 20-6 with 9:10 left in the half.

“We had them scouted for the play and we nearly pulled it off,” Bjorklund said. “If we convert it, the score may have been a little different.”

Aside from the short-field score, the Comets gave up a series of big plays during Algona’s second-quarter blitzkrieg, something Bjorklund hopes to shore up before Charles City’s long trip to Humboldt to face the Class 3A No. 6-ranked Wildcats.

Like against Algona and Mason City the week before, the Comets will continue to face high-caliber competition for the rest of the season where one missed tackle or blown assignment will more likely ignite “off to the races” chases.

Charles City’s defense did pick it up in the second half with Meek sacking Manske for a six-yard loss (Meek leads the Comets in QB sacks), team-leading tackler Jackson Ruzicka recording five solo tackles, Cameron Littleton and Trevor Carolan recovering fumbles, and Leah Stewart recording a solo tackle for no gain helping force the Bulldogs’ to turn over the ball on downs for the only time during the game on their last possession.

ALGONA 53, CHARLES CITY 25

Scoring By Quarters

Algona 6 40 7 0 — 53

Charles City 0 6 7 12 — 25

Individual Scoring

A — Tate Slagle 15-yard pass from Alex Manske (Kick failed) 1:28 1st, 6-0

CC — Kaden Littleton 82-yard pass from Patrick Bruening (Kick failed) 11:47 2nd, 6-6

A — Evan Allie 7-yard pass from Manske (Tate Slagle kick) 11:18 2nd, 13-6

A — William Weichert 1-yard run (Slagle kick) 9:10 2nd, 20-6

A — Tate Garman 14-yard pass from Manske (Slagle kick) 6:10 2nd, 27-6

A — Garman 23-yard interception return (Slagle kick) 4:52 2nd, 34-6

A — Nathan Manske 67-yard pass from Alex Manske (Kick failed) 3:34 2nd, 40-6

A — Slagle 11-yard pass from Manske (Kick failed) 1:46 2nd, 46-6

A — Ashton Moreno 6-yard run (Slagle kick) 9:01 3rd, 53-6

CC — Kamden Meek 7-yard pass from Bruening (David Garcia kick) 1:43 3rd, 53-13

CC — Deacon Caspers 53-yard run (Kick failed) 9:46 4th, 53-19

CC — Brayden Ellis 9-yard run (Kick failed) 4:08 4th, 53-25

RECORDS — Charles City 3-2, Algona 5-0

Individual Statistics

PASSING — CC, Patrick Bruening 7-15, 112 yards, 2 TDs, INT. A, Alex Manske 8-9, 210 yards, 5 TDs.

RUSHING — CC, Deacon Caspers 34 carries, 189 yards, TD; Victor Ward Jr. 1 carry, 23 yards; Brayden Ellis 3 carries, 18 yards, TD; John Bruening 2 carries, 13 yards; Patrick Bruening 1 carry, 3 yards. A, William Weichert 8 carries, 109 yards, TD; Cael Rotert 8 carries, 56 yards; Ashton Moreno 2 carries, 11 yards, TD.

RECEIVING — CC, Kaden Littleton 1 catch, 82 yards, TD; Kamden Meek 3 catches, 20 yards, TD; John Bruening 2 catches, 6 yards; Victor Ward Jr. 1 catch, 4 yards. A, Nathan Manske 1 catch, 67 yards, TD; Tate Slagle 3 catches, 75 yards, 2 TDs; Jack Limbaugh 1 catch, 34 yards; Tate Garman 2 catches, 27 yards; Evan Allie 1 catch, 7 yards, TD.

DEFENSE — CC, Jackson Ruzicka 5 solo tackles; John Bruening 3 solo tackles; Kamden Meek QB sack; Tyler Heitz 1.5 tackles for loss; Ryder Biwer tackles for loss; Cameron Littleton fumble recovery; Trevor Carolan fumble recovery. A, Landon Thompson 6 solo tackles, QB sack; Ezra Oldenkamp 4 solo tackles; Jack Limbaugh QB sack; Tate Garman 23-yard INT TD return.