Cardinals Unable To Slow Down The Bulldogs

Last Friday the Soda Springs Cardinals hosted the Ririe Bulldogs at Archer Field.  The Cardinals started the game by recovering the ball on a short kick by senior Chase Jacobson, setting Soda up in good field position.  On offense the Cardinals came out looking to make a statement.  Soda moved the ball well taking about half of the time in the first quarter on that opening drive.  The Cardinals would cap off the drive with a quarterback bootleg into the endzone by Cooper Thompson.  The two point conversion would fail and Soda Springs would grab the early 6-0 lead.

On the ensuing possession by the Bulldogs the Cardinal defense fought to make a stand, eventually getting the Bulldogs to a fourth and two.  Ririe would take the gutsy move of going for it on fourth and it would pay off with a forty-two yard scoring run.  After a successful conversion Ririe took the lead 8-6.  The following series Soda Springs offense would sputter and end up going the wrong direction forcing them to punt and putting Ririe in good field position.  The first quarter came to a close with the Bulldogs on the move.  

It didn't take long for the Bulldogs to add a second score to the board once the second quarter got under way.  In the second, Soda Springs had very little in the way of offensive production as they struggled to even earn first downs.  Meanwhile the Ririe run heavy offense imposed its will on the slightly outsized Cardinal defense.  The half ended with the Cardinals now trailing 28-6.  

As the second half got underway, the Cardinals first offensive possession showed promise as they quickly moved the ball to midfield.  However, the drive would stall there and the ball went back to the Bulldogs.  The Cardinal defense tightened up briefly in the third despite seeing one of its leading tacklers Cole Garbett hobble to the sideline.  Late in the quarter some costly penalties for the Cardinals set the Bulldogs up with good field position once again and with about two and a half minutes left Ririe added another touchdown.  The third quarter would end with a little momentum for Soda Springs when they faked a punt on fourth down picking up some good yardage and keeping their drive alive.  

Starting off the fourth quarter on offense the Cardinals once again faced a fourth down.  This time despite a completed pass and a good effort by the receiver Soda Springs came up just a half yard short of converting.  After the turnover on downs the Bulldogs continued the role of the aggressor marching down the field and extending their lead to 43-6 with just over seven minutes left in the game.  With the clock now running the Bulldogs added one more score to their dominant performance making the final 50-6.  

Despite some individual valiant effort the Cardinal team as a whole failed to match the Bulldog intensity.  Soda Springs will get another chance to grab their first win of the season at home this week when they host Firth before having to take their first road game to Marsh Valley.