Cardinal, Van Buren fall in district openers

ELDON ? The Cardinal football team played right with Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont through the first half Friday, but a disastrous third quarter ruined its shot at an upset bid.

The Comets trailed Eddyville 14-6 through the first half before the Rockets rattled off four touchdowns in the third quarter. Eddyville went on the win the district opener 48-13.

?We were shell shocked and didn?t respond how we needed to,? Hadenfelt said of his teams? third quarter collapse. ?It just got away from us. Those things happen so fast, and we didn?t even realize it was happening until it was too late.?

Outside of the third quarter, Cardinal was outscored by only seven points the rest of the game.

The Rockets took a 14-0 lead to start before Dakota Showman connected with Neil Urtado for a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Rockets then scored 34 unanswered points before Cardinal?s Cole Campbell scored on a 74-yard kickoff return to close out the contest.

Showman finished the game 5-for-14 passing for 92 yards and a touchdown. Urtado had two catches for 44 yards, and Brandon Potts and Campbell made a pair of catches for 22 and 15 yards, respectively.

Nathan Yeager led the Cardinal defense with 10 tackles and one sack. Tyler Albert and Pedersen helped Yeager with eight tackles apiece, and Campbell made five stops.

The Comets (2-1, 0-1) look to get back on a track with a Friday trip to West Burlington-Notre Dame.

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 48, Cardinal 13

E-B-F 6 8 28 6 ? 48

Cardinal 0 6 0 7 ? 13

Scoring Summary

1st ? (EBF) Swartz 19-pass to Menius (kick failed)

2nd ? (EBF) Menius 6-run (2-point good); (C) Showman 16-pass to Urtado (kick failed)

3rd ? (EBF) Pigsley 45-run (kick failed); (EBF) Pigsley 9-run (2-point good); (EBF) Pigsley 5-run (Johnston kick); (EBF) Menius 30-run (kick failed)

4th ? (EBF) Van Dorin 6-run (Johnston kick); (C) Campbell 74-kickoff return (Pedersen kick)

Rushing ? (C) Pedersen 7-17, Yeager 2-2, Showman 10-(-4), Rachford 1-(-9)

Passing ? (C) Showman 5-14-92 (TD), Batterson 0-1-0

Receiving ? (C) Urtado 2-44 (TD), Potts 1-22, Campbell 1-15, Eklofe 1-11

Tackles ? (C) Yeager 10 (sack), Albert 8, Pedersen 8, Campbell 5, Carter 3, Honomichl 3, Rupe 3, Potts 3, Batterson 2, Josh Ramos 2, Showman 2, Urtado 2, Eklofe 1, Laughlin 1, Long 1, Schmidt 1

Van Buren falls

KEOSAUQUA ? Van Buren fell to 0-3 on the young season with a 62-0 loss to Lisbon Friday night in Keosauqua.

Junior quarterback Aaron Clemens once again led the offense, completing 1-of-4 passing attempts for three yards and gaining a team-high 19 yards on the ground. Junior Austin Fett was able to pick up another five yards rushing, and Vaughn Helling rushed for three yards and caught the Warriors? only reception.

Defensively, junior Dillon Showman had a team-leading seven stops, and Mitch Garrels and Casey Jones totaled five tackles apiece. Curtis Thomas, Jacob Heisel and Hunter Coffman each finished with three tackles.

Van Buren will continue district play this Friday at WACO in Wayland.