Cardinals defeat Paola in senior night showdown

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The Cardinals sent their seniors out on a high note Friday night as the team defeated Paola 28-21 on senior night. 

Senior Braylen Hoobler said the win was special for the team’s seniors as they have shared the football field together for many years. 

“We’ve been playing with each other for like 10 years, since literally flag and tackle [football] back in second and third grade,” Hoobler said. “So to come out here and win on senior night was a huge accomplishment for us.” 

Head coach Drew Steffen was fired up after the team’s win as he celebrated with members of the offense as they came off the field while the clock ran down. 

Steffen said he was happy the seniors got to make one last special memory with each other Friday night. 

“It’s something they’re going to remember the rest of their lives,” Steffen said. “The memories you made tonight and just that effort, you just don’t get to do that many times in life.” 

Members of the Cardinal regiment, color guard, girls golf team, cross country team and cheer squad celebrated their senior nights as well. 

With all the celebrations going on, Paola looked to come into Eudora District Stadium and put a damper on things immediately. 

The Panthers opened the game with a trick play where their running back threw a pass after receiving a toss. The play drew a defensive pass interference penalty on the Cardinals to set Paola up in Cardinal territory. 

Senior Clayton Younger scored his first touchdown of the night on a 5-yard carry to give the Panthers an early 7-0 lead. 

The Cardinals would answer right back with a drive that took about nine minutes off the clock and ended with a 2-yard score by Hoobler, tying the game at seven. 

Paola responded with a long drive of their own that took most of the second quarter. Younger finished the possession with a 2-yard touchdown. 

The Cardinals had a chance to put some more points on the board before halftime as they took the ball deep into Panther territory where they faced a fourth and short. 

Senior Kole Manley just missed an open target on the play to send the teams to the break with Paola leading 14-7. 

Manley said it was hard to get things going on offense because Paola controlled the ball so much with their run game, thus keeping the Cardinals off the field. 

“I think we both had a game plan and I think we both executed it well,” Manley said. “Their goal was to keep our offense off the field and they did a great job at that in the first half. I think we had two drives total in the first half, which is almost unheard of.” 

The Cardinals offense made the most of their opportunities in the second half, though, mainly with Manley passing the ball. 

After senior Adrion Seals opened the second half with a big gain on the ground, Manley connected with Hoobler on a deep pass to put the Cardinals in the red zone two plays out of halftime. 

Manley finished the possession with a 3-yard score, tying the game at 14. 

Steffen said he liked what he saw from his quarterback in the second half. 

“I think Kole was really motivated. I think he saw a couple of plays that he could have made in the first half and was like, ‘I’m going to make those in the second half,’ and he did,” Steffen said. “He made some huge throws in big time situations.” 

The Cardinals defense stepped up on Paola’s first possession out of halftime as they forced the Panthers to punt. 

The Panthers could not have asked for a better punt, however, as they were able to pin the Cardinals at their own 1-yardline. 

The Cardinals picked up a couple of first downs to give themselves some breathing room, which set up the biggest play of the night. 

Manley connected with Hoobler on a 63-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals their first lead of the night with about 30 seconds left in the third quarter. 

Manley said the opportunity for the big play was there all night, but the connection could not have come at a better time. 

“We’d run that play a lot, honestly, during the game, and we knew that the overhang backer was going to crash down,” Manley said. “I just had to get the ball to Bray before the overhang backer could drop back in time, and Braylen made a nice catch right over the top of the defender.”

Hoobler finished the game with 120 yards from scrimmage and two total touchdowns.

The Cardinals had the momentum and it looked like they were going to shut down Paola’s ensuing possession after senior Wyatt Summers made an interception. 

However, the Panthers receiver was able to rip the ball away from Summers to give Paola a spark again. 

It was a very controversial call as it seemed the receiver didn’t take the ball away until Summers was on the ground, but Steffen said the team just had to move on. 

“Dual possession goes to the receiver,” Steffen said. “It was a great play by Wyatt. He was in great coverage.” 

Shortly after, Younger scored his third touchdown of the night to tie the game at 21. 

The controversial play fired up the Cardinals as junior Christian Jarrett came out with a big kickoff return to give the team good field position. 

Manley connected with Seals on a deep pass on the first play of the drive and later hooked up with senior Matthew Magette to put the Cardinals inside the five. 

Manley capped it off with a 4-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-21.

Manley completed six of 10 passes Friday night for 169 yards, 145 of which came in the second half, and a touchdown. He also ran for 42 yards and two touchdowns. 

Now, with about five minutes to play, all the Cardinals needed was a stop on defense. 

The Panthers picked up one first down, but then a holding penalty killed much of their momentum. 

Junior Errol Siemon made a tackle for loss following the penalty and then threw an incomplete pass to set up a do-or-die fourth and 20 play. 

Paola’s senior quarterback Triston Katzer couldn’t find anyone open, so he tried to scramble, but Magette came flying in for a tackle to put the game away. 

The win concluded regular season action for the Cardinals and improved the team to 4-4. 

Hoobler said the team is going to lock in so they can make a deep postseason run. 

“We’re just going to live in the moment. It’s gonna be every practice, every play. Every time we step on the field, it’s going to be our best no matter what,” Hoobler said. “We’re just gonna give it our all.”

The Cardinals will host Piper High School (4-4) to open the postseason at 7 p.m. Friday. Here is the 4A playoff bracket. 

Hear more from Manley, Hoobler and Steffen by watching the Kaw Valley State Bank post-game show. 

Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]