Comets cruise past Columbus

ELDON - The Cardinal and Columbus football teams met up for a Week 0 showdown on Friday night, and it was the hometown Comets who opened the season in the win column, picking up a 63-26 victory.

The Comets struck early and often. On Cardinal's first possession of the game, quarterback Maddux Jones found Christian Bowman on a 25-yard passing touchdown. He followed that with a 45-yard bomb to Griffin Greine the next time Cardinal had the ball, and it was 15-0 after the first quarter. 'I trust my receivers a lot,” said Joens. 'I know if I just throw it up, they'll go make a play.”

Cardinal made it 23-0 with a touchdown early in the second quarter. This time it was Jones' legs that go the job done on a quarterback sneak. Greiner found Blaine Bryant on a two-point pass after a botched snap on the point after attempt.

The two traded touchdowns on the next two scores. Columbus scored its first touchdown of the season on a short run by Tucker Bright. Cardinal put up six more on a 30-yard catch by Bryant and it was 28-7 Comets.

Any hope of a Columbus comeback was dashed on a play at the end of the first half. On fourth-and-goal from the 26-yard line, Jones found Greiner on a long touchdown pass to the right side. The Comets connected on the two-point conversion, and it was 36-7.

Columbus hung with Cardinal in the second half, as the Comets only outscored the Wildcats 26-19 in the final two periods. The damage had already been done, however, and the Comets moved to 1-0.

'We've got some kids that have really bought in to our athletic enhancement program, and you can tell,” said Cardinal head coach Landon Miller. 'A lot of those kids have been playing for me since they were freshmen, and you can start to see some of the fruits of the labor.”

Jones had a monster day both in the air and on the ground. He was 15-for-16 for 332 yards and five touchdowns through the air. He also ran for 145 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, not bad for the first game of the season.

'We've worked our tails off this past summer just to get to this point,” Jones said. 'We need to be a little more conditioned, but it will come for us.”

Greiner caught six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned a kick return for a touchdown. Bryant finished with four catches for 94 yards and a score, and both Bowman and Ian Liles ended the night with one touchdown reception.

The Cardinal offense was led by Greiner, who had 6.5 tackles on the night. Landon Becker collected 5.5 tackles of his own. Isaac Cox had a fumble recovery and Isaac Lett had one interception.

Columbus quarterback Jeff Hoback went 6-for-8 for 123 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Bright ended the night with three catches for 116 yards receiving and a kick return score. Triston Miller had the Wildcats' touchdown catch, scoring on a two-yard completion.

Will Schwab had a nice night running the ball for Columbus, going for 102 yards. Kaden Amigon ran for 67 yards and a touchdown. Hoback and Bright both found the end zone once on the ground.

Schwab had a game-leading seven tackles in the loss. Mason Hodges had 5.5 tackles, second-most on the team.

'That's a good team we just played,” said Columbus head coach Dave Lekwa after the game. 'They have a lot of good athletes that were part of their team last year.”

Cardinal moved to 1-0 and will travel to take on Southwest Valley this Friday. Columbus fell to 0-1 and will host Louisa-Muscatine this week in their home opener.