August 25, 2011 at 1:50 p.m.
Marshall's speed too much for Pointers
Friday they put an exclamation mark on just how good.
The Cardinals rolled up 301 rushing yards and threw for 166 more as they cruised past host Mineral Point 46-0 in a non-conference opener for both teams.
The Cardinals limited senior power back Brady Tibbits to 56 yards on 12 carries while their leading rusher, Albert Unruh, churned his way to 110 yards on 10 tries.
They also forced Pointer quarterback Cody Bertram to throw short passes all night as he hit on four of eight for 39 yards. Travis Steffes picked up the majority of those yards when he grabbed a pass for 15 yards.
All in all, it was a tough night for the Pointers.
"Marshall is indeed a very good team," coach Tom Steger said. "They showed us every one of our weaknesses, which will hopefully allow us to improve as we move forward. I thought we were competing well up to the point where we threw the pick 6 on a screen pass that a Marshall D-lineman took about 60 yards for a TD. After that, the wind kind of left our sails, and we gave in a bit to fatigue and feeling sorry for ourselves."
"I hope that this loss is a motivator for our kids, and that they see the value in competing as hard as they can on every play," said Steger. "Our lack of experience - particularly at linebacker and offensive line really showed on Friday. The speed of the game is not something that we can simulate very easily, and Marshall always plays at a really fast speed."
Defensively, Tibbits led the tacklers with 9.
The Pointers travel to Dodgeville Friday in search of their first win of the season.
"Dodgeville will be riding high after a nice victory over Fennimore," Steger said. "They are very talented, particularly at their skill positions, and we need to limit the big plays that they get, and get our offense in gear if we are going to compete with the Dodgers. Rivalry game - always a battle!!"
