Olney High School senior running back Bradley Garcia carries the ball during his first appearance this season after suffering a thumb injury.

Huge quarter lifts Windthorst 64-0

A first quarter scoring explosion and a stout defense was enough to give the Olney Cubs a 64-0 loss to the Windthorst Trojans.

A few first quarter miscues by the Cubs led to their seventh loss of the season.

“I just told the boys that was one of the worst games we’ve played since I’ve been here,” Coach Mark Young said. “We did a lot of things wrong that they have never done wrong before in their lives.”

The Cubs began the game from their own 5-yard line, then a 3-and-out gave the Trojans great field position as they started the subsequent drive from inside the Cubs’ 30-yard line. After a 5-yard touchdown by Windthorst senior running back Broady Flach, the Cubs looked to return the favor, but instead their drive ended with a turnover, the first of five that night. Windthorst eventually tallied 28 additional points in the first quarter to take an insurmountable lead. The Trojans were equally deadly on defense, holding the Cubs to just 97 yards of total offense during their 64-0 rout.

What’s next

Although bested by a large margin and still looking for their first win, the Cubs are far from out of the playoff race. Young said he had his players focus on the fundamentals this week  as they head on the road to take on the 1-6 Chico Dragons.

“We bounced back and got back to the fundamentals,” Young said. “We upped the tempo this week. We are preaching to them that we can beat Chico this week and getting excited about that.”

Although facing a team that has also struggled this season, Young said now is not the time to be over confident.

“Anyone that is 0-7 cannot come into a game over confident,” Young said. “We are going into the game with confidence that we can win the game. We can win the game if we do what we’re supposed to do. A lot of it comes with experience age, maturity and consistency.

Young said the Dragons run a similar 3-3 stack defense as the previous three teams the Cubs have faced so offensive preparation has not been difficult. On offense, the Dragons prefer to keep it simple and essentially run the same six plays throughout the game.

“They line up in multiple formations, but they are going to run about six basic plays,” Young said. “They will throw the ball at you, but we just have to stop those six basic plays. They run counter, iso, sweep and will run a bubble (screen).  Defensively, they line up in 3-3 stack, but will try to catch you off balance. It’s the same thing we’ve been seeing week-in-week-out.”

The Cubs are still looking for their first win, but when it comes to the playoffs they are still in the hunt.

“I don’t see Chico beating anybody else,” Young said. “As funny as it sounds, we could be 1-9 and still make the playoffs and anything can happen in the playoffs.”

Although still reeling from the loss, the Cubs do have a few things to look forward to considering they continue to get players back in the lineup. One of those players is senior running back Bradley Garcia, who returns from a thumb dislocation suffered earlier this  season. 

“I’ve been out for six weeks,” Garcia said. “Windthorst was my first game ... It was good getting the ball. I felt like I was back with my team, my brothers, and feeling the same pain as they are right now.”

Garcia also feels confident heading into Friday and feels that if the Cubs can play mistake-free football, then they have a strong chance of coming out with a victory.

“We’re going to work our hardest and show people what we got,” Garcia said. “No mistakes, just try and run the ball and get a touchdown, basic football, that’s it. I boost their emotions and tell them ‘don’t worry about it. Let’s just focus on the next play and try to win this ball game.’”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.