Cardinals start slow, finish strong

— After a long off-season of anticipation, Cardinal fans finally got to see the team in action against someone other than itself.

The Cardinals were part of a scrimmage against a tough opponent in the Monticello Billies on Tuesday night. While the final score was in the Billies' favor, 15-14, it should be noted that the battle of the starters ended with the Cardinals holding a 14-9 lead. Each team played their starting line-ups for the first three quarters before putting in their younger squads for the last quarter.

Early penalties on offense stained the Cardinals' first quarter, but the defense played well enough to keep the Billies off the board until a long touchdown run up the middle and a successful PAT would give the Billies a 7-0 lead. The Billies would again drive and get deep in the Cardinals' territory before CF's Leotis Easter would come up with an interception near the visitors sideline. However, the Billies would tally a safety against the Cardinals after what looked as if it could have been a screen pass to a running back. The Billies ended the half with a 9-0 lead.

The Cardinals started the second half on defense and came up with a fumble on the Billies' first drive near the Monticello 40-yard line. Chris Hargraves had a couple of strong runs and got the Cards into the red zone before a penalty stalled the drive and the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs.

The Billies would return the favor and put the ball back in the Cardinals' hands. This time, Keith Johnson would find Qwaishawn Thompson for a 25 yard touchdown pass. Israel Quiroz would add the PAT to cut the lead to two.

The Cardinals' defense would again rise to the occasion and come up with another Billies fumble after a gang of Cardinals got to a Monticello ball carrier in the backfield. CF defensive end Tarrion Thompson scooped the ball up and ran it in from about 20 yards out. Quiroz was again good on the PAT.

For the rest of the game, the Cardinals continued to try different line-ups to get their players some reps before having their JV team play in the last quarter.

There were a lot of positives from the game. Both quarterbacks, John D. Dawson and Johnson, made good reads and kept the ball off of the ground and out of the opponent's hands. Hargraves looked as if he could be one of the hardest players to tackle in the 5A conference, and Andretti Austin proved to be a sure tackler and made several good plays from the corner-back position.

The defense is still young and went for the turnover, sometimes allowing the Billies' ball carriers to get extra yards after contact.

Considering that the scrimmage was changed to the Billies' stadium - and the Cardinals had practiced in near 75 degree temperatures before an August sun reared its head at game time - the Cardinals showed a lot of potential.

Head Coach Jake Monden talked to his team after the game and told them that they still have a lot of work to do. He emphasized how important it is to get off to a better start by the season opener on Sept. 2.

"We were really slow in the first half, but by the second half, we got in a good rhythm," Monden said.

"I was proud of our kids for getting the ball back in that third quarter... We can't afford to start slow. We can't afford to play lethargic and we can't afford to just go through the motions. That's something we have to address, but I think our kids will respond well."

While the offense moved the ball fairly well throughout the scrimmage, offensive coordinator Todd Scott said that the team has "just gotta get better." He said that the early false starts were from confusion as the players thought the quarterbacks' motion calls were a part of the quarterbacks' cadences. Scott said he did see some positives.

Upcoming Events