Cardinals Edge Past Cougars in a nail-biter
By: Asher McKenna
For week 4 game play, the Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals traveled down the road to Stromsburg to take on the Cross County Cougars. This game wasn't pretty for either team, as both sides struggled to gain yardage. When the final whistle blew, the score favored Doniphan-Trumbull, who walked away with the 12-0 win.
“I thought the game went well. We did a good job adjusting to the conditions offensively, and we did enough with our ability to move the ball to score enough to win. It was a good experience for us to play in the wet conditions and get a feel for what they could be like in the future,” said head coach Mr. Jordan Conner. “Defensively, I thought we had an outstanding night. We were gap sound, pursued the football well, and made timely plays to force turnovers. Overall, I was very pleased with our attitude, effort, communication, and focus throughout the game.”
The Cardinals' defence put on a show Friday night at Cross County, not allowing a single point all game. Junior outside blocker Max Ross played a major role in this shutout. The defense's run and pass blocking were on point during the game. The secondary recorded 4 interceptions coming from seniors Jack Poppe, Parker Volk, and Taylon Bennett. While in the box, junior Andrew Waters and senior Preston Witter were destroying the run and pass.
“I would say we did great in containing the outside run and stopping the pass. On the other hand, we could have played a lot better against the interior run,” said Ross.
On the other side of the ball, it was a back-and-forth battle between the two offenses, but the reason the Cardinals came out on top was due to their run game. Waters and senior Hayden Smith had a combined 24 carries with 115 yards. Due to the wet, rainy weather, neither team's passing game was particularly effective. Volk was 19/27 with 161 passing yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. Bennett and senior Harrison Winfield caught the two TDs.
The team hopes to take the weaknesses they struggled with in this game and turn them into strengths before next week’s home game.
“The conditions may have had an impact, but we need to be better about not allowing as many yards after contact this week,” said Assistant Coach Avery Umpherys. “Another point of emphasis has been having better ball security and winning the turnover battle. ”
The Cardinals are ranked #10, according to NePreps' rankings, going into week 5, where the Doniphan-Trumbull Cardinals will take on the unranked Gibbion Buffalo at home.