Cardinals Show Promise Despite Tough Loss

The Soda Springs football team kicks the season off with several new looks.  Soda Springs is 3A now?  Yes Soda is now considered 3A but so are the majority of last year's 2A schools.  Head coach?  They have two, co-head coaches Rod Worthington and Scott Gambles are joining forces to lead the team.  Scheme?  Yes it has changed to a new system that is being implemented by the new coaches.  Even the helmets have a new look.  Will all the new changes have an effect on results from the team?  Well if you only look at the box score from Friday night's game against American Falls you may not hold out much hope.  However for those that watched the game there was a lot of promise shown by this year's Cardinal team.  

Taking on a bigger school both in classification as well as physical size can be a challenge for any team.  That is exactly what the Cardinals faced last Friday.  American Falls has not been considered a powerhouse in recent years but with a line averaging well over 200 lbs and a dynamic receiver they are no slouch this season.  The Cardinals started the game on defense and looked aggressive early in this one forcing a three and out in the first series.  On their first offensive series the Cardinals started off moving the ball well, earning a first down and moving the ball effectively on the ground.  The first hiccup for Soda came when American Falls would intercept a pass near midfield.  On the very next play the defense broke down allowing the Beavers running back to go right up the middle for the game's first score.  On the next series the Soda Springs offense settled in and once again began moving the ball well with Bensten and Garbett running straight into the teeth of the stout Beaver defense.  However this drive would stall out around the thirty yard line and the quarter would end with Soda trailing 6-0.  

On the first defensive series of the second quarter the Cardinals held strong again getting the ball back to their offense.  The offense behind the dual quarterback system of Thompson and Harrison once again moved the ball well early before suffering some self-inflicted wounds.  Penalties and miscues put an end to this drive as well leaving the Cardinals scoreless.  With time winding down in the first half, American Falls would mount a drive. At the conclusion of one play, some extracurricular activities after the whistle resulted in a personal foul being called, putting the Beavers in scoring position.  The Cardinals would get some redemption when they sacked the quarterback making it third and goal from the thirteen yard line.  On the next play the Beavers would commit a hold, backing themselves up even further.  The Cardinals were looking like they had dodged a bullet when the Beavers heaved a pass to the back of the endzone earning them a 12-0 lead going into the half.  

The third quarter was Soda’s least productive on offense and the defense gave up two scores, one being a fifty-eight yard run up the gut.  In the closing seconds of the third Soda was moving the ball well with their final play ending with a third and three near midfield.  

After switching ends of the field to start the fourth, the officials made an unintentional error that went unnoticed placing the ball so that Soda now had a third and seven.  After a five yard pick up that would have given the Cardinals a first down if the ball had been placed correctly Soda now faced a fourth and two and decided to punt.  After several more back and forths the Soda defense made one last stand, stopping an American Falls drive and turning the ball over on downs.  With time winding down Harrison threw a bomb to Garbett to get the ball down to the thirty-five yard line.  Three plays later Thompson bootlegged to the left side of the line and scampered in for the Cardinals' only score.  The two point conversion was successful, but after the Beavers ran the clock out, the final score was 26-8.  

Despite the multi-score loss there were several bright spots for the Cardinals.  Bensten and Garbett made big plays on both sides of the ball.  The two quarterback system also gave the Cardinals the ability to change up the plays keeping the defense on their toes.  With three of the four American Falls scores coming on big plays Soda was just three plays from being in a shootout with the much larger Beaver team.  All in all the Cardinals had some early season miscues that they will have to clean up but they seem to have the pieces to be a competitive team moving forward.  Soda Springs will host Ririe Friday night with the JV starting at 4:30 followed by the varsity at 7.