Ground game leads Comets past Danville; Warriors downed

ELDON ? The Cardinal ground game racked up six touchdowns and more than 400 total yards Friday in the team?s most lopsided victory of the Adam Hadenfelt era, a 55-16 blowout of Danville.

Jonathan Pedersen rushed for three of those touchdowns and 140 yards, Tyler Albert scored two touchdowns with 77 rushing yards and Dakota Showman picked up 115 yards and a touchdown on the ground to lead Cardinal.

?We didn?t feel like our offensive line played terrific in Week 1 [in a 28-0 win over Van Buren], so we challenged our line this week,? Hadenfelt said. ?They answered the challenge, and I really thought tackle Logan Laughlin and Neil Urtado, our tight end, did an outstanding job blocking and moving guys out of the way.?

Cardinal built a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter before the ground game even got going. Albert opened the non-district tilt with an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and Showman later hit Brandon Potts with an 18-yard touchdown pass for the 14-0 advantage.

Danville scored two unanswered touchdowns at the start of the second quarter to take a 16-14 lead, but it was all Comets from there.

?I thought our guys did a great job not panicking, stemming the momentum and taking that punch Danville threw and really turning it around,? said Hadenfelt.

Pedersen rushed for scores from 31 and six yards out to help Cardinal to a 42-16 lead after three quarters, and two touchdown runs by Albert in the fourth quarter sealed the victory for the home team.

?I told them after the game I was very proud of them and very impressed,? said Hadenfelt. ?[The win is] a testament to the guys because they?ve put in a lot of hard work. When we have nights like this, it helps us to continue to build belief in the program.?

Nathan Yeager led the Comets on defense with 11 tackles and an interception, Urtado had eight stops and Cody Carter made eight tackles. Showman, Potts and Pedersen finished the game with six tackles apiece.

Next up for the Comets (2-0) is a Friday matchup against district opponent Eddyville-Blakesburg (1-1) in Eldon.

Cardinal 55, Danville 16

Danville 0 16 0 0 ? 16

Cardinal 14 14 14 13 ? 55

Scoring Summary

1st ? (C) Albert 84-kickoff return (Pedersen kick); (C) Showman 18-pass to Potts (Pedersen kick)

2nd ? (D) 3-run (2-point good); (D) 43-pass (2-point good); (C) Pedersen 31-run (Pedersen kick); (C) Pedersen 6-run (Pedersen kick)

3rd ? (C) Pedersen 71-run (Pedersen kick); (C) Showman 8-run (Pedersen kick)

4th ? (C) Albert 16-run (kick failed); (C) Albert 3-run (Pedersen kick)

Rushing ? (C) Pedersen 14-140 (3TD), Showman 9-115 (TD), Yeager 4-71, Albert 9-77 (2TD), Campbell 1-6, Potts 2-10, Batterson 1-3

Passing ? (C) Showman 1-2-18 (TD)

Receiving ? (C) Potts 1-18 (TD)

Tackles ? (C) Yeager 11 (int), Urtado 9, Carter 8, Showman 6, Potts 6, Pedersen 6, Albert 5, Batterson 5 (int), Honomichl 5, Roberts 3, Josh Ramos 3, Jonathan Ramos 3, Eklofe 2 (int), Cale 2, Rachford 2, Laughlin 2

West Burlington 27, Van Buren 0

WEST BURLINGTON ? Van Buren?s offensive woes continued into Week 2 with a 27-0 loss to West Burlington Notre Dame on the road Friday.

Van Buren first-year quarterback Aaron Clemens was 5-for-10 passing for 40 yards and led the team in rushing with 45 yards. Curtis Thomas carried the ball 10 times for 26 yards.

Defensively, Thomas led the Warriors with 13 tackles and a sack. Jacob Heisel made seven tackles, Hunter Coffman had six stops and a fumble recovery and Jesse Fuller had four tackles along with five pass breakups.

The Warriors trailed by a touchdown entering halftime before allowing three more scores in the second half.

Van Buren is 0-2 and opens district play at home against Lisbon Friday night.

Individual Statistics

Rushing ? (VB) Clemens 15-45, Thomas 10-26, Helling 6-6

Passing ? (VB) Clemens 5-10-40

Tackles ? (VB) Thomas 13 (sack), Heisel 7, Coffman 6, Fuller 4, Jones 4, Garrels 4