History made: Cardinal’s 1st home win versus Pekin

ELDON — There is a perplexing problem for the Cardinal football team after Friday’s 70-19 victory against the visiting Pekin Panthers.

It’s not a problem per se, its more a conundrum — what to call the Comets offensive line.

Every football coach knows that the battle is won in the trenches.

“They are extremely athletic and they are big upfront,” said new Pekin head coach Klynt Weber, who was the defensive coordinator for Sigourney-Keota last season when the Comets and Cobras played one another twice. “Their offensive line is night and day from last year. They did a great job upfront,”

Last year’s 38-29 postseason win at Packwood was the first over Pekin. The offensive line cleared the way for Cardinal’s first home win against the Panthers.

“They were bigger. They were stronger. They were in a better position than we were,” Weber said.

Ian Liles put Cardinal on the board first but Pekin answered with Colton Comstock’s dive on fourth down for an 8-7 deficit.

The next scrimmage play was Blaine Bryant’s 57-yard Comet touchdown. He caught the ball across the middle, then was hit by two Panthers, but somehow busted through and away, sprinted upfield, made a great cutback at the 15 to find the end zone for a 14-7 lead.

The first of Griffin Greiner’s array of touchdowns — one each rushing, receiving, punt return, kickoff return and all over 55 yards — made the score 22-7.

A 28-yard pass from Comstock to Chandler Stull on third down preceded Sven Dahlstrom’s scoring run. Pekin had pulled to within 22-13 with 5 minutes, 56 seconds remaining in the first half but wouldn’t score again until late in the fourth quarter.

From a 38-13 score at halftime, the clock was on the mercy rule setting after Maddux Jones touchdown made it 54-13 with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter.

It wasn’t a good start to Weber’s head coaching career.

“The nerves were building up pregame, but we have such a great staff that once we got going in the game, I felt great,” Weber said. “Cardinal is extremely athletic. I can’t say enough about that.”

Greiner’s touchdown catch was a track star leap to snag the football, but he deflected.

“Our lineman blocked phenomenal,” Greiner said. “They put in the work this summer. They are going to be special.”

After worries surfaced during scrimmages about the offense, Cardinal head coach Landon Miller asked something of the group.

"We challenged the line to be better and they answered,“ Miller said. ”It’s impressive when you can get young kids to buy in, listen, show up. And do it all summer. They have been grinding, so they deserve this.“

Lineman Logan Walters, who is 5-feet-9 and 230 pounds, broke down the line. “I’m the only senior but I would not say I’m the best. Isaac Cox (5-8, 260) and Jessie Hughes (5-9 240), those guys, dogs. Then someone who puts in the work, you got Braxton Guiter (6-5, 285). Keep your eye on him. Our center, Alex Rachford (5-11, 215), started the entire year as a freshman. He puts in the work, snaps it great. That’s a dog.”

As Hughes walks by, he chimes in with, “Logan Walters, dog!”

“Jesse’s the pit bull and Isaac is a bull dog, I already know that,” Walters said. “Braxton is the big dog.”

Now the conundrum could be what type of dogs are the others. Or it could be the task of a moniker for the group. Maybe it is the conundrum these Comets have created for future opponents.