The Cardinals traveled to St Thomas Aquinas and came home with a 34-26 win.
Webb City found themselves down 3-0 as the Saints scored on their opening drive, but the offense drove the length of the field in seven plays to grab the lead 7-3. Phoenix Johnson had the big play of the drive with a 27 yard run setting up Maddy Johnson's two yard touchdown run.
The defense came up with a big stop on the Saints next drive with the help of an intentional grounding penalty and the gave the ball to the offense on their own 11 yard line. However, the Cardinals turned it over on their 15 yard line and the defense once again stiffened and forced another Saints field goal that cut the lead to 7-6 early in the second quarter.
The offense wasted little time covering the field on a drive that lasted less than 2 minutes and only five plays. The big play was a 55 yard run by quarterback Scott Roderique as he kept the ball on a option to the left, carrying the ball down to the 21. Pheonix Johnson scored from 10 yards out on a run straight up the middle and the Cardinals were up 14-6.
The Cardinals took their next possession to the endzone, with Roderique rolling to the right and finding Austin Daniel back across the field for a 28 yard touchdown pass.
The Saints scored in the final moments of the second quarter and the teams went to the locker room with Webb City leading 21-14.
The Cardinals defense kept the Saints offense out of the end zone in the third quarter, even though they started two drives in Webb City territory. However, the Saints used the strong leg of their kicker to get two field goals and closed the gap to 21-20 at the end of the third quarter.
The Cardinals offense struck back with touchdown drive that was highlighted by a Maddy Johnson 29 yard run down to the two yard line. Maddy scored on the next play as the offensive line opened up a hole on the right side and the score was extended to 28-20.
The Saints wouldn't go away and scored with 3:47 left in the game pulling within two at 28-26. A two point conversion failed as the Cardinal knocked down the pass.
The offensive line took over the last drive and allowed the Cardinal running backs to pick up good chunks of yardage running straight ahead as the game clock continued to run. The final 28 yards was covered by Christian Hoffman bouncing to the outside and scoring with less than a minute left in the game. The extra point was blocked and the score was 34-26.
The Saints had one last chance to score, but a Breckin Williams interception sealed the win.
The Cardinals will begin district play next Friday as they travel to Carthage.
Rushing Leaders
- Maddy Johnson 20-105 2TD
- Phoenix Johnson 14-105 1TD
- Scott Roderique 9-51
- Christian Hoffman 1-28 1TD
Receiving Leaders
- Austin Daniel 3-72 1TD
- Nathan Price 1-12
Passing Leaders
- Scott Roderique 4-6-84 1TD