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The Cardinals lost at home to Bishop Miege in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate.

Junior Octavius Lyles shined on Friday night forcing a fumble on a Bishop Miege punt return. On the ensuing Eudora drive, Lyles capitalized on the turnover he forced and scored a rushing touchdown halfway through the first quarter. The Cardinals took a 6-0 lead, but they wouldn’t score again. 

“I feel like we started off slow, but during the season we finally picked it up collectively,” Lyles said. “We brought it up to where we are here, week 11, we knew we were going to be here, but it just took time and it was a process.”

Bishop Miege answered with a rush touchdown of their own and then took advantage of Cardinal turnovers in the second quarter, including a fumble at midfield with 2:40 remaining in the first half. Miege scored on the drive following the fumble and then intercepted Eudora to close out the first half with a 14-6 lead.

Miege scored the last touchdown of the night late in the third quarter when their running back ran untouched into the endzone to take a 21-6 lead. Eudora showed signs of life in the last four minutes of the game when senior quarterback Gage Hayden broke through the Miege defense for a 36-yard rush. However, a fumble on the possession dashed any hopes of making it a one score game.

“Our whole team, we made some mistakes that were fixable in this game and at the beginning of the season. We fixed it at the end of the season,” Hayden said. “Today, we started off strong on defense, offense made a few mistakes, but we played a hell of a game. I’m proud of my brothers.”

The Cardinals finish a strong season 6-5.

Reach sports editor Chris Fortune at [email protected].