The Cardinals racked up nearly 350 yards and five touchdowns on the ground on their way to defeating Baldwin 48-7 Friday night.
Junior Errol Siemon led the charge for the team with 16 carries for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Siemon said the team’s success at running the football was all credit to the offensive line.
“I thought our o-line did a great job getting out in front and just punching people in the mouth,” he said. “My job’s pretty easy when they are out blocking. So, I got to give all the credit to the o-line.”
Siemon scored the team’s first points of the season with a 26-yard touchdown run on the Cardinals’ first drive of the game.
Baldwin answered back with a long drive that took nearly half of the first quarter, but a holding penalty wiped out a Bulldogs touchdown that would’ve tied the game.
A few plays after the penalty, the Cardinals defense stepped up on fourth down to halt Baldwin’s momentum.
Senior Braylen Hoobler said this was a crucial moment in the game.
“We really fought through that,” he said. “That turned around for us to be really good in the second quarter.”
Right before the end of the first quarter, however, senior quarterback Kole Manley connected with fellow senior Adrion Seals on a deep pass to flip the Cardinals’ field position after getting the ball back deep in their own territory.
Shortly after, Siemon scored his second touchdown on a 17-yard run to make the score 14-0 early in the second quarter.
The Cardinals forced a quick three-and-out from Baldwin to get the ball right back after the score.
Once again, a big play from Manley to Seals set up a Siemon touchdown run. Siemon’s third touchdown was his longest at 42 yards.
Siemon said all his touchdown runs were nothing new as he was just doing what he practices.
“We run these plays at practice and we get good at them, and then we become great at them,” Siemon said. “Then, we bring them out here Friday nights and we just do them. I mean, it’s muscle memory for everyone on the field.”
About 25 seconds after Siemon’s third touchdown, Hoobler came away with an interception to set the Cardinals up in good field position.
Hoobler read the play well to force the turnover.
“I saw the receiver, one of the outside backers called, ‘Crack, crack, crack,’ so I knew that since he was coming through here, I read the quarterback’s eyes to make that play across the middle,” Hoobler said.
A couple of plays later, Manley hit Seals on a swing pass for a 14-yard touchdown to cap off a second quarter that saw the Cardinals score 21 points in a span of about five minutes.
The momentum continued to roll for the Cardinals out of halftime. Two plays out of the break, Seals took a short pass 67 yards for his second touchdown of the night, making the score 34-0 after a missed extra point.
Seals finished the game with five catches for 155 yards and two scores.
The Cardinals defense continued its dominance as Baldwin struggled to get anything going on offense. The team shut out the Bulldogs for the first three quarters.
Head coach Drew Steffen said he is proud of the younger players who have filled several holes on the defense after several key contributors from last season graduated.
“We got a lot of guys that haven’t played varsity football,” Steffen said. “I remember one time, it’s the third quarter, and three or four sophomores run off the field on our starting defense. Those guys are going to have to just grow up in a hurry, but I couldn’t be more proud of it.”
The Bulldogs found the endzone to open the fourth quarter. Senior quarterback Jack Harvey scored on a 5-yard run. Harvey had 105 total yards and the one touchdown on the night.
The Cardinals’ run game continued to pound Baldwin in the fourth quarter with two more long touchdown runs.
Manley followed his blockers on a 43-yard touchdown run on the Cardinals’ possession following Baldwin’s score. Manley had 75 yards on the ground to go along with his 177 yards passing.
Then, junior Connor Watson scored on a 30-yard run to put the game away.
Siemon said it felt good to start the season at home with a win.
“It starts us off on the right page, but we definitely have some work to do for this upcoming game,” Siemon said.
The Cardinals travel to Bonner Springs for a game against the Braves at 7 p.m. Friday. The next home game is Sept. 15 against Spring Hill.
Watch the Kaw Valley State Bank post-game show to get Siemon’s, Hoobler’s and Steffen’s full thoughts on the game against Baldwin.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected]
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