By Sean Bock
AMES — For the second year in a row, the Little Cy-Hawk Trophy will belong to Ames after the Little Cyclones knocked off the Little Hawks from City High, 56-33, Sept. 8 evening in Ames.
After failing to score on their first possession of the game, the Little Cyclones scored on four-straight drives to close out the first half with a lead, 28-25.
The difference-makers for Ames were senior quarterback Joe Evans and running back Matrell Davis, who gave the City High defense fits all night.
Evans threw for 305 yards and 5 touchdowns, and Davis ran for 148 yards on 22 carries and scored 2 touchdowns.
“We really got to do some evaluations on where we’re at,” City High head coach Dan Sabers said. “What we’re doing, top down. You got to do what you got to do.”
Similar to Ames, the City High offense came out red hot to start the game, but the defense couldn’t hold up its end as the game progressed.
“We got to look at every facet of what we are doing defensively,” Sabers said. “Because, obviously, we haven’t had an answer two weeks in a row, and so that’s everything.”
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One positive that came out of the loss for the Little Hawks was the efforts of senior quarterback Bryce Hunger, who went 23-of-36 for 314 yards and 3 touchdowns.
A good chunk of Hunger’s passes were caught by wide receiver and classmate Zach Jones, who corralled 16 receptions for 256 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“We did some good things,” Sabers said. “We’ll just have to keep working there and get better.”
Friday night’s contest was neck-and-neck until early in the third quarter, when Evans connected with wideout Tynan Shahid on a 78-yard touchdown pass to make the score 35-25.
On the following possession, the Little Cyclones forced a City High fumble that led to an Ames touchdown on the first play after the turnover, making the score 42-25.
The Little Hawks were unable to cut the lead back to single digits after that.
“That’s two tough losses for us in a row,” Sabers said. “We have to find out what we can do and what we can’t do.”
After the loss on Sept. 8 evening, the Little Hawks sit at 1-2 on the season with a much-anticipated matchup against crosstown rival No. 3 Iowa City West coming up Sept. 15.
The Trojans are coming off a wild comeback win against No. 8 Cedar Falls at the UNI Dome.
The game will be played at 7:15 at Bates Field.
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