Cyclones storm past Foxes

KING GEORGE — Eastern View High School ran the spread offense Friday, literally.

The Cyclones (2-2, 1-1) spread around six touchdowns against King George (1-4, 0-2) Friday night as Simon Pendleton threw five touchdowns to four different receivers and Alquan Newman ran one in for the 41-7 victory.

“I feel like we felt we got our explosiveness back,” EVHS head coach Greg Hatfield said. “We had our receivers making some big plays. Our playmakers made plays.”

Those playmakers stepped up on the second drive of the game as Pendleton connected with Carl Lacy for a 28-yard touchdown pass. Lacy finished the game with two receptions for 108 yards and two scores.

One thing missing from the equation for EVHS in recent weeks has been the running game, but Friday night Pendleton took the ball in his own hands and rushed for 118 yards, to go along with his 228-yard passing night.

“We were balanced, I thought there were some more plays we could make in the run game,” Hatfield said. “Simon played really well. Our offensive line did a nice job again.”

The defense allowed only one touchdown, a 24-yard touchdown run by Wayne Wyatt that tied the game at 7 with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter.

“I thought our defense played ferociously, except for that one drive,” Hatfield said.

After that, it was all Eastern View. Pendleton found Matt Case streaking across the middle with 8:58 left in the second quarter for an 18-yard strike and followed that up with a 5-yard pass to Drayton Shanks with nine seconds left in the first quarter.

Earlier in the game, Shanks had dropped a tough pass over the middle but made sure he cradled the ball with both hands when Pendleton found him wide open in the back of the end zone.

“I didn’t want to drop any more,” Shanks said after the game, with a sheepish grin on his face.

EVHS led 21-7 at the half and put the game away late in the third quarter as Pendleton hooked up with Lacy for a 70-yard strike. The game looked to be over a few plays earlier as Conner Settle hit Shanks with a 73-yard option pass, but that play was called back because of an EVHS penalty.

Pendleton finished up his banner-passing day with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Settle in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Seth Cundiff and Matt Case stood out for the Cyclones as Cundiff picked off a pass and recovered a fumble, both setting up touchdowns. It was Cundiff’s second interception in as many games. Case was all over the field Friday night, making several big tackles to keep the Foxes in check.

“Matt Case played great coverage when they tried to go over him,” Hatfield said. “He’s just a solid football player. Because he’s little people pick on him but he does a great job. Seth had the big pick against Chancellor too, he’s just a solid linebacker.”

A week after falling to Chancellor 42-0, the Cyclones looked like a different team Friday night. So the question was posed after the game, which team is the Cylcones?

“Definitely this week,” Shanks said. “We didn’t play Cyclones football last week.”