CAMDEN — The Camden Fairview Cardinals (1-1) will travel to Pulaski County to take on the Joe T. Robinson Senators (2-0) for its first road test of the season at 7 p.m. on Friday.
CF enters the contest after handing the 4A Hamburg Lions its first loss in 2019 last week, 51-35. It was CF’s largest margin of victory against the Lions since 2014. In that game, the Cardinals came up with nearly 550 yards in total offense. C.F. rushed for 385 yards led by Erik Hall who had 166 on 18 carries and Logan Robertson passed for 158 and ran for another 60 yards. The offensive line for the Cardinals didn’t allow a sack as special teams and the Cardinal defense combined to force four turnovers.
While the Lions are always one of the toughest games for the Cardinals, the Senators are more talented and have been under coach Todd Eskola for 14 years. The program has a pedigree of success in the 4A classification that rivals CF’s run in the 5A. Like C.F., Robinson has sent a lot of student athletes to college to further their football careers and have appeared in a state title game.
Last year when C.F. hosted Robinson, there was a lot going on to say the least. The Cardinals were unveiling a newly installed turf for its first home game of the season and media from across the state were present to watch the match up between C.F.’s Stacey Wilkins II (Oklahoma) and Robinson’s Zach Williams (Arkansas).
The game started great for the Cardinals after a 95 yard kick off return for a touchdown but Robinson ultimately defeated the Cardinals 41-12 as C.F. came away empty in the red zone twice and failed to recover two onside kicks.
The last time C.F. defeated Joe T. Robinson was when they shared the same conference in 2009. The Cardinals were able to upend Joe. T. Robinson in Little Rock, 29-28.
This year, Joe T. only returns two starters. They are especially young on defense. While the Senators are averaging 57 points per game, the team is giving up an average of 43 points per game. In its game against Rogers, the Senators gave up six passing touchdowns that came by an average of 28 yards out.
The Senators played 7A West teams Rogers and Springdale to open the season. Those two opponents only have a 2-3 combined record, but considering Joe T. Robinson is just a 4A school, the wins are still impressive and show Robinson isn’t intimidated to play up in classification.
The Senators are led by 6’4 linebacker and Glen Rose move-in J.T. Towers. Towers has drawn interest from several D1 schools including Arkansas. He is also speedy and can play quarterback in certain packages.
Buddy Gaston lines up at quarterback for the Senators and has a lot of speed around him in running back Hunter Smith and senior split back Duente Moody.
Robinson’s varsity team was off last week as its JV squad played against Drew Central.
The Cardinal offense is clicking sooner than it has in previous season. Last week’s game against Hamburg was the first time the Cardinals scored over 50 points in non conference play since 2013. C.F. Head Coach Jake Monden credited his team after last weeks win for knowing that it still has areas to improve. He also spoke about how he feels his team has clicked in mentally.
As impressive as C.F.’s performance was against Hamburg last week, the Cardinals know it could’ve been even better. Cardinal wideouts were able to get behind Lion defenders throughout the night but had five drops in which three were likely touchdowns.
“We know we still gotta get better,” Monden said following last week’s game. “We are coming off one of our best weeks mentally. So we just gotta continue to build on that.”