MANCHESTER — The Webster City football team ran into an opponent in desperate need of a victory.

West Delaware exploded to take a four-touchdown lead on the Lynx here at the half on their way to a 42-13 victory.

In the defeat, Webster City senior Jaxon Cherry became the school’s career leader in rushing yards, finishing the night with 104 yards and a touchdown. Cherry now has 3,720 yards, surpassing the previous total set by Gavin Dinsdale.

Cael Nixon added 93 yards and the other touchdown for the Lynx (3-1 overall), who suffered their first defeat of the season.

Trevyn Lyons and Jayden Weinzetl each had 5.5 tackles with Cherry, Aiden Hrnicek and Luke Estlund all finishing the night with 4.5. Nixon also recovered a fumble.

“We lost focus on defense and their very talented quarterback made us pay for it,” WCHS head coach Bob Howard said. “Once again, I need to find a way that we can come up with a viable scout offense as when we get in the game, things happen much faster. Against West Delaware, we didn’t catch up to the tempo.”

West Delaware was led by Brent Yonkovic, as the junior ran for 217 yards with three touchdowns while throwing for 87 and a fourth score. Macoy Roling ran for 102 yards and Jax Miller found the end zone.

“West Delaware is a very good program with great numbers and a lot of talented players,” Howard said. “They got started with an 84-yard punt return where we missed three tackles. We then had big mistakes in our next three possessions and all three resulted in a punt with West Delaware scoring on all three.”

The Lynx will have little time to think about this one as they return to the field Friday against North Central Conference rival and district foe Clear Lake. The Lions moved to 4-0 with a 28-25 victory over Waverly-Shell Rock.

“We backed up a little offensively, as besides the blown opportunities on the successive series’ in the first half, we had too many missed blocks and a few missed assignments that shouldn’t be happening in the fourth game,” Howard said. “This will be a huge week of practice with an undefeated Clear Lake coming to town Friday.”

Webster City and Clear Lake have not played since 2017 when the Lynx won, 41-27. The Lions have won seven of the last nine meetings overall.