October 17, 2011 at 1:33 p.m.
Cards match-up means championship
The Cardinals pounded the Cassville Comets 42-23 on a sunny Saturday noon and put their record at 6-1, one game behind 7-0 Potosi. The Cardinals and the Chieftains match up in a showdown this Friday at Tyler Field. Potosi is the number one ranked team in Division 7.
The best the Cardinals can do is share the Six Rivers title with Potosi as the Chieftains locked up a share of it with last Friday's win. This win means the Chieftains have held the title for four seasons.
"Hopefully we can upset them," coach Shaun Reuter. "They are a little different team than they have been. They no longer have the huge line and powerful backs, but now they have tons of speed and athletes, so they spread you out and throw the ball a lot more. It will be a huge challenge for us heading into the playoffs but one the guys are looking forward to. Hopefully we can get a huge crowd here like last week and try to earn a share of the title."
Last week was Homecoming for the Cardinals and became a life experience for the first year coach who has led Highland to a very successful season and a return to the playoffs.
"This was my first experience with homecoming here in Highland and man do they make it a big deal," Reuter said. "Parent and community involvement all week with the locker decorating, window painting, and skit night was tremendous. Then on Saturday we had great weather for the parade and game and the crowd support was awesome. I feel that it really helped get our kids up for the game having that many people here, plus we haven't had a home game since September 2 so it was fun to play here again."
The Cardinals had some impressive leaders in last Saturday's win.
"Tyler Kleist had 20 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns," Reuter said. "He is the one who sets the tone for us. We want to come out and dominate on the ground.
"Caleb Yager also had 15 carries for 63 yards. Blake Bodenstein had a pair of touchdowns on the ground and one passing. Bailey Bodenstein ended up with 70 yards combined rushing and receiving and a TD of each."
Reuter also said the defensive unit had a banner game.
"Our defense played our best game of the year holding them to 6 yards rushing on 17 carries through three quarters. Our pass defense has improved as of late holding them to 6 completions on 14 attempts for 56 yards. We are playing with confidence and tackled really well against Cassville," Reuter said.
With the win comes the constant improvement from a team not picked to be in the title hunt in the preseason.
"I think the biggest key to our improvement is that the guys are starting to believe in themselves," Reuter said. "Our goal at the start of the year was to make the playoffs which we accomplished early. We knew that we still had a chance to win a conference title if we were able to win out and they have been focused on that goal. We are also playing to hopefully earn a home playoff game the first round."
