September 5, 2014 at 10:06 a.m.
Comeback was in the Cards
Last year the Comets drilled the Cardinals and gave them their worst loss of the 2013 season. This time the Cardinals repaid the favor with a come from behind 20-14 win.
The Cardinals rolled up 279 yards on the ground and added 21 more passing but still had to come from behind with two scores in the fourth quarter to win.
The Cardinals had some chances earlier but turned the ball over twice at the 20. Coach Shaun Reuter and his Cardinal squad knew this had to change.
"The biggest reason for the comeback was that we forced a couple of turnovers and stopped turning the ball over ourselves," Reuter said. "We squandered a few scoring opportunities by turning the ball over at the 20 a couple of times."
The Cardinals called on senior running back Austin Yager to use his power and get them the three scores they needed.
Yager capped a first quarter drive by plunging in from one yard out at 4:28 for a 6-0 lead.
After Cassville quarterback Hunter Nix sent the Comets ahead 14-6 the Cardinals had one quarter left to turn things their way.
Nix had passed 14 yards to Dallas Esser for a second quarter score to tie things at halftime then sent Cassville ahead midway through the third quarter with a nine yard pass to Dylan Johll. Esser ran in the conversion to make it 14-6.
The Cards drove the ball to the three then quarterback JR Linscheid called Yager's number and he rammed it in for the score and Yager also tied it by running in the conversion.
With 3:10 remaining Yager got the ball again and scored from two yards out for the win.
"Austin has worked extremely hard in the off-season and it is showing," Reuter said. "He hasn't had the big game yardage wise but it is nice to know he can get us the short yardage when we need it. He scored all 20 of our points on three touchdowns and a two point conversion. The respect that the opponent's defenses are giving him has really opened up the option for JR Linscheid."
Yager has also been leading the defense.
"I have been real pleased with his linebacker play," Reuter added. "He has been much better this year at reading plays and getting off of blocks and tackling. He also has had a pick in both games this year."
Linscheid used the option to pick up a team leading 130 yards on 17 attempts.
"He has been doing a great job in running the option with Yager," said Reuter.
Reuter said he hopes to get a little more out of the passing game as the season progresses.
"Our passing game does need to get a little more vertical," Reuter said. "JR completed 5 of 6 but for only 18 yards. Cassville did a really good job of coming up and tackling on our short passing game. Three of the completions went for -6 yards."
Reuter credited the offensive line with doing a good job with consistency.
"I thought that our offensive line (from left to right Garrett Esser, Drew Drury, Michael Biba, Lorcan Carey, and Russell Greene) did a pretty good job of controlling the line of scrimmage throughout the game," said Reuter. "We had 54 rushing attempts for 263 yards against a defense that held us to 52 yards of total defense last year. "
He said he thought one other factor played into the win.
The other reason we had a strong comeback is I think our conditioning showed up late in the game. We have done a little more in the off-season and the first two weeks of practice and so far I think that we holding up better later in the game." said Reuter.
Reuter said the Cardinals are pleased with the win and what it does for them at this stage of the season.
"It was a great win for our young team. We talked all week about what they did to us last year at our place. We also discussed about how this would help us reach our goal of reaching the playoffs. It was an intense game where every play mattered from beginning until the end when Michael Biba came up with a huge sack on fourth down to end their threat at the 17 yard line. John Ross Linscheid also tipped a ball away in the end zone on the play before. He also intercepted a ball in the end zone earlier in the game."
The Cardinals entertain Belmont Friday.
"They are coming off of a good win against Shullsburg," Reuter said "They return their quarterback and tight end who gave us trouble last year. They also have a running back returning who ran for over 200 yards against us last year so we will have our work cut out for us."
