With the crowd in a frenzy after senior Jaden Hamm scored a 10-yard touchdown on a juggling catch in overtime, junior Kole Manley trotted back on the field to attempt a big two-point conversion.
Head coach Drew Steffen said the Cardinals were forced into going for two because the team’s kicker was unavailable in overtime.
On the two-point play, Manley dropped back to pass and threw the ball over the middle, but it was tipped by a Louisburg defender and the pass fell to the ground. But, the Cardinals were still up 27-21.
On the ensuing Louisburg possession, the Cardinals defense stood tall on first and second down, but Louisburg pounded in a touchdown run from the 5-yard line. Louisburg made the extra point, and the Cardinals picked up their first loss of the season to drop to 4-1. The final score was 28-27.
“We fought well, played well, just obviously didn’t get the outcome we needed tonight,” Hamm said.
Regardless of the scoreboard, Steffen said he thinks this type of game and learning to play in close game situations will help the team in the long run.
“I love just to have that overtime, playoff type of atmosphere for our kids,” he said. “This is going to make us better. We know we are going to play eight regular season games, and so whoever we play in week nine, we’re going to be ready to roll.”
Steffen also said he was pleased with the way younger players on the team played.
Sophomore Christian Jarrett got a lot of snaps at cornerback and went against one of Louisburg’s senior receivers for most of the night. Jarrett even came away with an interception in the second quarter. Freshman Braedon Speer also made several plays on defense while filling in for junior Matthew Magette, who was out for the game with an injury.
“We were playing a lot of kids that hadn’t started for us or have played much varsity football on defense, and those kids stepped up,” Steffen said. “So, we found some kids that are going to be really good football players when they get to be sophomores and juniors, not just freshmen like some are now.”
Some of the usual names made plays as well. Manley had three touchdown passes on the night, including two to Hamm. Manley even had a pass breakup on defense late in the game that prevented Louisburg from connecting on a deep ball.
Senior Octavius Lyles had another long touchdown run of 77 yards, his eleventh touchdown on the season. Junior Adrion Seals also forced two turnovers: one interception and one forced fumble.
“We got a lot of dudes that just fly around and play really good,” senior Kale Hammerschmidt said.
Despite the tough loss on paper, sophomore Errol Siemon said he doesn’t see the game as a loss in his book.
“I think we won, like, mentally we won, we got better as a team,” he said. “Overall, we’re still just us and we’re going to continue to be us throughout the season. I wouldn’t want to go into it with another team.”
The Cardinals will look to bounce back next Friday at the homecoming game against Schlagle High School.
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