All phases of the Cardinal football team was prominent in a 41-6 win at Willard.

Special teams made their mark on the first play of the game.  Willard chose to receive but when they were unable to cover up the kickoff at their own 28 yard line, Ryan Reid hustled down and recovered what turned out to be a 32 yard onside kick.   Four plays later, Jackson Lucas found TE Fisher Derrick with a 17 yard TD pass and the Cardinals led 7-0 after only 94 seconds of game time.

Defense showed itself when Mason Williams ended the next Willard drive with an interception at the Webb City 21 yard line.  Six minutes and 14 plays later, he barreled in from the four  for a 14-0 advantage.  In the drive, Lucas had a 16 yard completion to Andrew Young and 12 yard run calling his own number.  Williams ran for 32 yards in the 79 yard drive.

After Willard punted on the next possession, the Cardinal offense took over near midfield.  Braden Strickland took over under center and broke off runs of 5, 9 and 22 yards on option plays.  He then threw a 12 yard touchdown strike to Gus Karnes and the Cardinals were up three scores just as the second quarter got under way.  

After being held to less than 30 yards last week in the first half, the Webb City offense amassed almost 130 yards in just the first quarter.

Willard finally got on the board in the final seconds of the half and the teams went to the break with Webb City leading 21-6.

The second half was more of the same.  The Cardinals scored three more times, the first on a Mason Williams 32 yard burst up the middle, running through a Willard linebacker and breaking out to the corner pylon.  Slade Hurd found paydirt from a yard out and the final score was a 67 yard TD pass from Lucas to Joseph DeGraffenreid.  

Defensively the Cardinal defense picked off two more passes, one each by Brody Eggleston and Nathan Dorn.  Several other passes were broken up as the Tigers were forced to the air in attempt to score.  They stopped four  Willard drives on downs, and forced the Tigers to punt twice, holding them to only 242 yards of total offensive output.

The Cardinal offense finished with 477 yards total, 263 on the ground and 214 through the air.  Mason Williams led with 81 yards rushing, Joe DeGraffenried with 112 receiving yards.

The Cardinals will back at home next Friday to take on the Carthage Tigers.