Comets streak past Columbus in season opener

COLUMBUS JUNCTION - The first game of a football season is always a learning experience for everyone involved on both teams.

Friday, the Cardinal and Columbus high school football teams found out some things in a 38-0 Cardinal victory.

'It was a learning moment for us,” first-year Columbus head coach Tyler Kibbe said. 'We are trying to learn our tempo. We are trying to learn about ourselves. We are trying to learn who we are.”

Cardinal found out that new offensive coordinator Rich Mayson calls a balanced game with some big-play potential.

The Comets threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 13-of-28 passing by sophomore Maddux Jones and senior Gabe Reyes churned out 16 carries for 91 of the total 140 yards rushing. Seven different receivers caught a pass, highlighted by a 35-yard juggling snag by Landon Becker and a 57-yard TD bomb to Griffin Greiner. Greiner caught four passes for a total of 99 yards. Jarrett Rea caught four passes for 23 yards and a touchdown.

'Our offense is going to be more lethal this year,” Blaine Bryant said. 'We have some guys on the outside that can do some damage.”

Bryant knows about doing some damage.

Columbus took the opening kickoff and picked up two first downs before having to punt. Bryant blocked the punt, giving the Comets the ball on the Columbus 30. Six plays later, Rea caught a pass in the flat and rumbled in for a 7-0 lead with 7 minutes, 28 seconds to go in the first quarter.

'We had an all-out blitz called,” Bryant said. 'I got past their wall guys. I got a pretty good jump on it. I was just going to lay out, but I saw that I was going to be there, so I tried to catch it, but it went off my shoulder pad and got over my head.”

Bryant provided the Comets with a 14-0 lead with 10:15 remaining in the first half when he intercepted a pass and went 36 yards to the end zone.

'Blaine is just a playmaker, no matter the sport,” Cardinal head coach Landon Miller said. 'We just put them out there and tell him to go do his thing.”

'I just dropped back in the coverage and didn't have to do much because it seemed like he threw it right to me,” Bryant said. 'I dropped back into coverage and took away the underneath guy. I read the quarterback's eyes and it seemed like he was going to throw past me, so I dropped back, grabbed it and it was off to the races. I don't think they touched me. I ran into my own guy blocking someone, but I shook it off and kept going.”

The next Comet possession was a four-play drive. Starting at their own 19, Jones went 22 yards on a bootleg. Two plays gained two yards, then Greiner sprinted past the defense on third-and-8 and Jones's rocket of a pass caught Greiner in stride for a 21-0 lead with 5:58 remaining before halftime.

'Coach Mayson has done a great job of taking his basics and putting it into what we do,” Miller said. 'We did not know about Columbus with them having a new coach, so we had to prepare for a lot of things. The kids did a great job handling all that preparation.”

Columbus had four first-quarter possessions that started on its own 22, 15, 15 and 5. Second-quarter possessions started on their own 20, 22, 35 and 9.

The Wildcats had three good drives in the second quarter. One drive went 60 yards, with the key play a 40-yard completion from Bawi Uk to Tucker Bright. The drive ended at the 19 on an incompletion.

After Will Schwab returned a kickoff 30 yards, he ran on four of five plays, picking up 22 yards and two first downs. Cardinal's Ben Clark made a leaping interception to end the drive.

The Wildcats went from their own 9 to the Cardinal 16, with the key play a 40-yard catch by Bright, but time ran out in the first half.

'I thought we played very well at times and at times we played poorly,” Kibbe said. 'We are trying to learn who we want to be.”

Poor field position continued to plague the Wildcats with their first second-half position starting on their own 10.

Cardinal started its second possession of the third quarter on the Wildcats 36. A 47-yard completion to Greiner on second-and-16 was the key play. Reyes scored from the seven two plays later and it was 28-0 with 4:35 to go on the third.

Columbus fumbled the ensuing kickoff and two plays later, Reyes scored from the 27, starting a running clock at 35-0 with 3:42 left in the third.

With 7:31 left in the game, Christian Bowman added a 36-yard field goal to his five PATs for the final tally.

'If we stay healthy we can be a really good team,” Bryant said.

'We worked really hard in the weight room during the offseason so that when games become about physicality we can respond,” Miller said. 'When I took over this program two years ago that was not the case. The kids have bought into the program since I've been here and I thought it showed.”

Cardinal hosts Van Buren Friday.

Columbus hosts Highland.

Uk was 4-of-13 for 67 yards. Schwab had 27 carries for 92 yards and caught two passes for 20 yards.

'One thing we will still be learning is just because we put the work in, it does not mean you will beat somebody else,” Kibbe said. 'We have to learn to work a little bit harder. When they go to a job interview someday, they will have worked just as hard as the next person, but might not get the job. That means we have to work a little bit harder. We knew it was a process. We have stuff here that is going to make something happen but we have to learn how to use it. We have to learn how to be who we are.”