West Point-Beemer falls at O'Neill

The West Point-Beemer Cadets fell 43-7 at O'Neill Thursday night.

The Eagles led 14-0 at the end of one before both teams scored 7 second quarter points to make it a 21-7 game at halftime in favor of O'Neill.

The Eagles blanked the Cadets 14-0 in the third quarter to lead 35-7 after three.

O'Neill won the fourth quarter 8-0.

Cole Hughes was 9-13 passing for 150 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Ben Vander Griend caught 5 passes for 69 yards while Kade Hughes brought in 2 passes for 58 yards, and scored once.

Riley Berg ran for 68 yards on 14 carries.

Dylan James notched 9 tackles while Kade Hughes and Jackson Hoffman registered 8 and 7, respectively.

West Point-Beemer racked up 248 yards of total offense, including 151 through the air.

The defense gave up 435 yards of total offense, including 227 passing.

The Eagles are a really good football team. I think that shows in the way they were balanced offensively. The Cadets hung with O'Neill for a half, West Point-Beemer just couldn't put it all together for four quarters.

The Cadets (3-2) host Madison (0-4) Friday night.

The Dragons lost 49-7 at Wayne last time out.

Madison has played a tough schedule so far this season even though they have struggled.

The Dragons have had a tough season so far, but you can bet they will come to play against West Point-Beemer.

The Cadets should have no troubles winning, but West Point-Beemer can't come into this game thinking they have it in the bag, because when you do that, often times you get beat.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I think the Cadets have a shot to win their next three games.

If West Point-Beemer can get back to playing the way they did before the O'Neill loss, they should be in good shape for the next three weeks at least.

The Cadets have to take care of business and be impressive against Madison.

No game is a sure win, so West Point-Beemer has to come out and take the fight to the Dragons from the start.

Berg has to pound the rock the way he is capable of and Cole Hughes has to have a game similar to what he had against the Eagles.

In other words, the Cadets need a big game offensively.

West Point-Beemer has been a strong defensive team this season, now it's just a matter of getting their offense going.

I look for the Cadets to have their best offensive output in this game, giving them the confidence they need to beat Wayne and Pierce.

West Point-Beemer has to keep getting better, and I look for this game against Madison to be the Cadets' best performance to date.

North Bend Central shutout the Dragons 35-0 so I don't see why West Point-Beemer can't do something similar.