Ike overcomes sluggish performance against WV

YAKIMA — By their own accounts, it wasn’t the prettiest game the Eisenhower Cadets have played this season.

But that didn’t matter in the least, as far as they were concerned, because despite that uneven performance, the Cadets walked away from West Valley’s Clasen Field with something far more valuable Friday night — a victory.

Eisenhower's Chad Brown runs the ball against West Valley's Joe Wallace in the second quarter at the Clasen Field Friday, October 10, 2008. (Kris Holland/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Ike’s offense took the lead in the first half, scoring three times, and then the defense stepped up with a scoreless second half, highlighted by Kyler Hernandez’s two interceptions, as the Cadets turned back the Rams 19-10 in Columbia Basin Big Nine play.

“We were a little out of synch in the first half, but we tried to keep our heads in the game,” said Hernandez, a junior whose unit limited West Valley to 52 second-half yards before the Rams gained 71 on their final drive in the last two minutes.

“In the first half, they (West Valley) really had us off balance,” Ike coach Dan Eyman said of his defense. “But we settled down in the second half. We needed that because on offense, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Indeed, considering Ike managed just two first downs and 73 yards in offense after halftime, wasting excellent field position throughout the third quarter.

But that didn’t mean much since the offense hummed along perfectly fine in the first half, with the Cadets putting together two long scoring drives, and one quick-strike touchdown to build their 19-10 lead.

Quarterback Taylor Elmo produced the two biggest plays — one with his legs, the other with his arm.

Down 3-0 after West Valley’s Weston Green kicked a 36-yard field goal, Ike faced a second-and-6 from its own 35. Elmo took off on a keeper and broke into the secondary. At the Ram 45, he hurdled a Ram defender attempting a leg tackle in the middle of the field, and then cut to the left sideline before being run down at the Ram 7 for a 58-yard gain.

“That was just a great play,” West Valley coach Scott Ditter said. “He’s a tremendous athlete.”

Ike quickly cashed, with Stephen Palachuck running the ball in on the next play.

West Valley answered right back with an impressive nine-play, 93-yard drive, capped by Green’s 5-yard run, to retake the lead at 10-7.

Ike quickly matched that with a 10-play, 62-yard drive consisting of all running plays, capped by Elmo’s sneak from the 1. The point after missed and Ike led 13-10 with 4:58 left in the half.

The Cadet defense then started to flex their muscles, forcing a three-and-out, with Ike getting the ball at the Ram 39 after short punt.

On the first play, Elmo dropped back, got perfect protection, and found Chad Brown behind the defense for a 39-yard scoring pass. Ike again missed the point after, but it didn’t matter much as the Cadets defense took over from there.

“This really helps build our confidence for next week,” Hernandez said after Ike’s second straight victory. “We just want to win as many games as possible from here on out.”