WEBSTER CITY – You can’t catch what you can’t see.

And when Webster City’s tough-as-nails junior wingback does show his face, keeping up with his quick feet and stop-and-go moves just adds to the headache.

Meet Payton Kannuan, maybe the smallest big-game running back you’ll ever see.

Humboldt felt the sting from the 5-foot-5, maybe 140-pounder if he’s soaking wet while wearing combat boots, during Wednesday’s opening round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

With the wind whipping and the teeth chattering, Kannuan picked up yards in chunks and trucked for a career-high 200 on 20 carries to help fourth-ranked Webster City mow down the Wildcats, 35-0, at Lynx Field.

The victory set WCHS up for a second-round home game against Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (8-2) Monday night at 7 p.m. The Nighthawks advanced with a 24-16 victory over perennial power Sioux City Heelan.

Aided also by the bulldozing maneuvers of tailback Gavin Dinsdale, unbeaten WCHS (10-0) tied the school record for wins in a season on the strength of 411 yards rushing and out-gained overmatched Humboldt (4-6) 440-118.

Dinsdale finished with 150 yards on 36 totes and his three touchdowns gave him 49 for his career, tying the school record held for the past 54 years by Frank Reinhardt. It was Dinsdale’s ninth consecutive 100-yard game and the fifth straight outing in which he and Kannuan both reached triple digits.

“He’s a great guy to have in the backfield,” Dinsdale said about Kannuan, who surpassed 1,000 yards on the season. “He breaks more tackles than I do and it’s just awesome to watch.”

What Kannuan lacks in size, he makes up for it with grit.

“He’s good, and he’s tough, too,” WCHS head coach Bob Howard said. “He hits seams and one of the advantages of him being small is that he can get through some really tight openings.”

Just as impressive as the wingback’s exploits was the dominance displayed by the WCHS defense, which pitched a shutout for the first time this season. It was the first time Humboldt has been handed the goose egg in nearly two years – a stretch than spans 21 games – and the Wildcats’ yardage output was their lowest since WCHS limited them to 124 in a 14-0 loss on Oct. 18, 2013.

“This is our type of game. We’re a tough team and this is one we wanted,” Dinsdale, who set the tone with a sack on the Wildcats’ first offensive possession, said. “This was our best defensive game … we’re starting to peak in the playoffs.”

Humboldt quarterback Drew Thomas was tossed around repeatedly and suffered through a 9 for 24 passing outing that produced just 68 yards. He was also intercepted three times, twice by cornerback Landon Daniels who jumped to the top of the 3A leaderboard with eight picks on the season, half of them coming at the expense of Thomas in a pair of Lynx wins.

“I’ve been in the right place at the right time,” Daniels said.

Howard thinks there’s a little bit more to it than that.

“Daniels has had a heck of a year,” he said. “He doesn’t get out of position and it’s hard to get the ball over his head.”

Alec Fuhs also joined the pick party and James Van Diest recovered a Wildcats’ fumble. Victor Jergens had a sack and shared the team’s tackles lead with fellow linebacker Ryan Ferrari. Both finished with 6 1/2; they combined for an additional three tackles for loss.

WCHS held lopsided advantages in time of possession (30-18 minutes) and first downs (22-7), but still had trouble finding the end zone in the opening half. Spinback Avery Fuhs broke free on a 22-yard touchdown gallop up the gut on the team’s opening possession of the game, but the Lynx turned the ball over on downs twice and on an interception on their next three possessions.

The lead stayed at 7-0 until late in the first half when, helped by a pass interference penalty on Humboldt on third-and-long, Dinsdale pushed past the goal line with 26 ticks remaining. Kannuan positioned the ball in Dinsdale’s wheelhouse with a 12-yard scamper one play earlier.

Howard gambled and took the wind instead of the ball at the start of the third quarter – WCHS kicked off to start the game as well – but the move paid off when his defense stopped Humboldt on fourth-and-short at the Wildcats’ 29.

“To choose the wind like that, that’s a dangerous thing,” Howard said. “But the defense backed me up on that.”

The cushion increased to three touchdowns a few plays later on a 5-yard run over the left side by Dinsdale.

Another quick series by Humboldt led to a 9-yard score by Kannuan on a counter around the left end to make it 28-0 with 3:17 left in the third. The Wildcats ran just 10 plays and didn’t record a first down in the third quarter.

Dinsdale’s record-tying trip to the end zone came from 17 yards out with 2:47 remaining in regulation.

The Lynx second-half haul was helped by an offensive line that wore Humboldt down. A little frustration seeped out of guard Cooper Lawson too, and it came in the form of punishing kick-out blocks. Dinsdale and Kannuan happily followed his lead on all three of the team’s touchdowns in the final 24 minutes.

“I was a little mad,” Lawson said. “I didn’t feel like I played a very good first half and I wasn’t happy.”

Howard didn’t sugarcoat things for his talented 260-pound sophomore at the intermission either.

“I don’t think he played real well in the first half and he got his hind end chewed a little bit by me at halftime,” Howard said. “But he certainly made an impact in the second half. He’s a force, and I think we’ve got two really good pulling guards right now in him and Ashton (High).”

The blustery conditions – the wind howled in excess of 20 mph throughout the game – put the brakes on the WCHS passing game, but it really wasn’t needed either. Avery Fuhs connected on just 1 of 6 passes, but his completion was a big one – a 29-yard toss over the middle to Jordan Moen on third-and-20 during the Lynx opening possession of the game. It kept the drive alive and eventually led to Fuhs’ untouched trip to the house.

Cole Briese also had a tackle for loss. Playing on the opposite side of Dinsdale at an end position, he helped to limit Humboldt to 50 total yards on the ground. Thomas, an elusive runner when out in the open, finished in the red with minus-11 yards rushing.

“Gavin and Briese did a good job of getting some pressure, and Victor and Ryan had big games,” Howard said. “Drew was banged up, too. They went to the (I-formation) in the second half to try to protect him a little.”

Moen made five solo stops from his strong safety position, and Alec Fuhs added 4 1/2 tackles at cornerback.

Dinsdale will enter Monday’s second-round game needing just 39 yards to jump into third-place and 43 to get to No. 2 on the program’s all-time rushing yards leaderboard. But as he’s said all season, the records will be for after his career is over.

“Right now none of that really matters,” he said. “We just want to keep winning.”