Young Cardinals Continue To Grow

Success and growth cannot always be measured by numbers.  With another big loss to a non-conference foe last week, it would be easy to throw in the towel on the Cardinal football season and have a negative mindset.  Before everyone piles on with the sarcasm and criticism, I ask you to give the new coaching staff along with a very young roster the chance to learn and grow from these early season losses.  It can be difficult to have a successful season when a team is full of experienced athletes and a well-established system, let alone a team full of varsity inexperienced players and a coaching staff that has had very little time to implement a new system.  Yes, you can look at last week's 43-0 drubbing as just the latest in a long string of disappointments but you can also say that it was just another stepping stone on a path forward that will with time produce a winning strategy.

Last week's game did leave a little to be desired by the numbers, especially on the offensive side of the ball.  The Cardinals had very little success moving the ball.  Soda was once again a little outsized on the line, making it very difficult for the quarterback and running backs to execute plays.  On the defensive side of the ball, the Cardinals did have moments that were impressive despite missing one of their key players, Cole Garbett, who was sidelined for this match up.  The Cardinal defense did make a big stand on the opening drive of the game, stopping the Cougars on the twelve yard line turning the ball over on downs.  The offense was not able to move the ball and was forced to punt.  The kicking game was an area of trouble for the Cardinals as they had several short punts that gave Firth a short field to work with.  The Cougars capitalized on some of those short drives and took a 21-0 lead into the locker room at the half.  The Soda defense did force a punt and another turnover on downs in the first half but missteps and penalties on the offense made moving the ball very difficult.  

In the third quarter there was very little action in the game.  Soda started out the second half by throwing an interception on a third and long, giving the ball back to the Cougars.  Firth put together a slow methodical drive using up a lot of clock and scoring with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.  On the next possession Soda Springs was unable to move the ball once again and went three and out and the quarter would end with the score holding at 27-0.  

Firth scored on the opening play of the fourth quarter to increase that score to 35-0.  Soda finally caught some breaks on the next possession with some big penalties going in their favor along with a great pass to Dunford from Harrison.  Despite having a first and goal, Soda was unable to convert the big play into a score and turned the ball over on downs.  Firth answered by going ninety-one yards, using up more clock and scoring going up 43-0.  From there the clock would run out for the Cardinals sending them to their second consecutive 0-3 start to the season.

The Cardinals will get this week off with a bye before traveling to Marsh Valley for another tough matchup.  Soda Springs will use the extra time off to decide how they will respond to a tough start to the season.