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In the preseason area football coaches felt SenacaWauzeka/Steuben had big play capabilities.
Turns out they were right.
Last Friday the co-op team scored three times in the first half and tacked on one more score in the final quarter to turn back Highland 30-12. All four scores came on big plays.
The first came in the opening quarter on a 63 yard run by Hunter Aspenson who got into the end zone three times on the night.
The second score came on a pass play from Carter Lomas he put into the hands of Gavin Ralph who scored from 75 yards out. The final score of the half came on a Lomas to Aspenson pass that spanned 57 yards.
The final score for S/W/S came on a 45 yard run by Aspenson that made it 28-6. A safety by the co-op team set the final score at 30-12.
The Cardinals got it figured out in the second half and scored in quarters three and four. Cal Dorota scored on an eight yard carry in the third quarter then they completed their scoring in the final frame on a 25 yard pass from Justin Miller to Drew Nankey.
It was a night of learning by the young Cardinals as they opened their 2019 campaign for the first time in four seasons without Drew Hennessey. They also had to break in a new quarterback to replace the graduated playmaker Spencer Linscheid.
"We have some holes to fill this year," said Highland coach Mike Aide.
First order of business was finding a quarterback and Aide feels that mission has been accomplished. The job went to Justin Miller.
"Justin did a great job starting for the first time as a varsity quarterback.Aide said. "He was forced to make quick throws through the entire game Friday night.
"Seneca/Wauzeka/Stueben did a great job containing the run all night," Aide said. " We were forced to pass so we could help open up the running game."
Also on the to do list is revamping the offensive line and for Aide and his staff it is a work in progress.
"Our offensive line is young with just one senior starting," Aide said. "The line is a work in progress right now. Our lineman need to execute their blocks and pass protection better. I felt the first half was not played well by our offensive line. The second half was little better by that group."
"Our running backs did a fair job hitting their holes but couldn't get any yardage after first contact," Aide continued. "Our receivers faced some challenges staying on their blocks as well. In total we need to clean up our mistakes and get better."
With S/W/S being a highly regarded team the Cardinals came away with some small victories.
"S/W/S has a talented team," Aide said. "With that being said we did some really good things versus a team with that kind of talent. I thought if we could have played our first half like we did in the second half we could have made the game more interesting. Now that we have that game out of the way we can focus on just playing football. This Ridge and Valley conference has teams that are built just like us. We need to play at our level and not worry about the other team."
Bright spots for the Cardinals are something Aide and his staff will use to build on.
"Offensively we made some great throws and catches and defensively we played good too," Aide said. "Cal Dorota was outstanding Friday night and I was very happy with his hustle. He made some big tackles behind the line of scrimmage. And, our special teams did a good job containing their speedsters and not allowing big returns."
This week is a short turnaround for the Cardinals as they head to North Crawford Thursday.
"I will see how this team responds from last Friday night loss," Aide said. "I expect our team to be ready Thursday night versus North Crawford."
The short turnaround time means less opportunity to prepare for NC.
"We need to make adjustments on the go this week," Aide said. "Thursday's game provides us little time to make many adjustments. We will take the time to fix some of our issues and get better this week. I know our players will make the correct adjustments and play better on Thursday night."
"They have a very quick quarterback," Aide said about North Crawford. "We need to be disciplined Thursday night. North Crawford will spread you out and try to find lanes to run or try to get one on one match ups. Defensively they have some size so we need to be ready to grind it out.
HIGHLAND STATS
Passing
Justin Miller 7/23/136 yards/1 td
Receiving
Cal Dorota 1 for 56
Drew Nankey 2 for 38
Jayden Halverson 2 for 32
Weston Frost 1 for 15
Max Oleson 1 for 8
Owyn Halverson 1 for 2
Rushing
O. Halverson 10 for 4
J. Miller 12 for 23
C. Dorota 3 for 17
J. Halverson 3 (-1)
M. Oleson 2 (-12)
Tackles
O. Halverson 13
C. Dorota 8
Gabe Benish 9
Don Laufenberg 8
Sacks
Laufenberg 1
Tackles for Loss
Laufenberg 1