BETHALTO – With fall finally in the air, it was a brisk October evening for football on the campus of Civic Memorial High School on Friday. The Eagles of CM hosted their rivals from Troy, the Triad Knights, who were looking to rebound after a loss at Highland last week.
At stake for the Knights was a slice of the MVC title, which would be their first since splitting it three ways with Mascoutah and Highland in 2021. CM opened the scoring and took the first lead of the game, but Triad capitalized on Eagle mistakes en route to 49 unanswered first half points, and a 49-6 victory.
Civic Memorial won the toss and elected to receive the kick, and started off strong when quarterback Jack Piening connected with junior wideout Hunter Kremke over the middle, and Kremke hustled all the way down to the Triad two-yard line.
“Don’t know what happened there,” said Triad head coach Calvin Potthast. “We just weren’t ready to go and they hit us in the mouth.”
CM seized the opportunity to score their first points in three weeks, and handed the ball to freshman lineman Damon Price from short range. Price pushed the pile and crossed the plane to give the Eagles an early lead, and give the fans on the Eagles sideline something to cheer about for the first time in a long time.
“I like that we came out and Jack (Piening) hit (Hunter) Kremke, that was a good start and gave us a little momentum,” said Civic Memorial head coach Nick Smith after the game. “We had a freshman lineman (Damon Price) get the ball in the backfield and get the touchdown.”
Unfortunately for the hosts, their lead lasted 18 seconds, as Triad senior Louis Yohannes followed his blocks, made some nifty moves and took the ensuing kickoff all the way for a Knights touchdown. Since CM missed their extra point, Jacob Dulaney’s converted extra point gave the visitors a 7-6 lead.
The Eagles attempted a response, but a lost fumble by Kaden Link after a completion from Jack Piening flipped the field in favor of the Triad Knights, who wasted no time finding the end zone again. A quick receiver screen pass to Mac Musgrave from sophomore QB Brody Hasquin, and Musgrave bolted up the sideline for six.
After the quick touchdown after a big play on the opening drive, CM gave up two in a minute and were down a score with just over two minutes of game time off the clock. The Eagles tried to gain a bit of control of the tempo of the game on the ground, but couldn’t create much against a strong Triad defensive front.
Triad added their third TD of the quarter when Ian Dempsey broke loose for a 60-yard scamper to the house to put some daylight in between themselves and the Eagles. Triad relied heavily on the ground game with starting QB Isaac Ackerman hurt, but when Brody Hasquin was asked to make throws, he found his targets and didn’t look like a backup.
“I’ll be honest, the quarterback situation was really up in the air,” said Triad’s Calvin Potthast postgame. “We didn’t know what it was going to be like, and Brody (Hasquin) stepped up very nicely and filled in.”
Hasquin completed his second touchdown pass of the night when he found Brayden Riney from six yards out to give the Knights a 28-6 first quarter lead. Triad kept their foot on the gas pedal.
Hasquin found Mac Musgrave, covered by a smaller CM defender, for their second touchdown connection of the evening and Hasquin’s third by running count. This was a bit longer than the earlier screen, a 32-yard connection where Hasquin threw a perfect ball to Musgrave in the endzone.
Triad’s Ian Dempsey made his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball with an interception of a Jack Piening pass to set up another Knights drive. He was rewarded with a quick pass in his direction from Brody Hasquin that he took 51 yards for Triad’s sixth score of the evening.
Hasquin and Dempsey would connect again for a touchdown in the final minute of the first half, with Hasquin hitting Dempsey in stride over the middle before the receiver took it the rest of the way. 49-6 was the score at the half, and the eventual final.
The third and fourth quarters were played under the running clock, and Triad rotated in some fresh legs for the remainder of the encounter. To their credit, CM’s defense forced the visitors into a few three and outs in the second half, but the Eagles just couldn’t get going offensively, especially with key players on both sides of the ball like Kevahn Flanagan and Parker Parnell out Friday.
For CM, it’s another not-so-pretty game, but it’s a learning experience for the young guys who had big shoes to fill against one of the best teams in the region.
“Right now, we’re young in some spots with all the injuries,” said CM’s Nick Smith postgame. “We’re getting some valuable experience, especially against a team like this. One of the teams that’s the class of the conference, between (Triad), Highland and Waterloo this year.”
“They’re very coachable,” explained Smith, talking about the younger players that stepped up for the depleted Eagles Friday. “The big difference is physically. They’re 14, 15 years old, playing against a bigger school in our conference. You can see their size, they’re weight room kids. That’s where we need to gain some ground, in the weight room this offseason.”
“But those young guys, they’re so coachable. They come out, they play hard, that’s all you can really ask for at this point of the season.”
The Eagles will have a good chance at a win next week when they host the Pontiac Indians from way up I-55. Pontiac is winless on the year so far, and give CM a chance at their third win on the year, which would be an improvement, if only by one game, over last year.
“I think that would be really big for us going into the offseason,” said Smith. “Two years ago, we had one win. Last year it was two. If we can win a third game this year, it’s something we can point to. We have a ton of guys returning, it’d be a good springboard to the offseason.”
With the win, Triad clinched at least a share of the MVC title, improving to 7-1 on the season and bouncing back emphatically after a 14-7 loss in Highland last Friday. They’ll host Collinsville to close out the regular season next week.
“We’ve got to prepare for (Collinsville’s) athletes and with their physicality up front,” said Calvin Potthast, looking ahead. “They’ll be fighting for their playoff lives. I know last year, it went down to a kick with three seconds left in the game. So we really have to understand what we’re running into next week and be prepared for that.”
