Bad luck plagues the Cardinals

Friday night’s home opener for the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura football team came down to the wire, but unfortunately, the Cards were not on the winning side as the buzzer sounded.

The Cardinals came out strong in the first quarter, collecting two consecutive touchdowns.  One on a 22-yard pass from Spencer Shaw to Josh Engslter.  Braden Meints connected on the PAT for a 7-0 Card lead.  Alex VanGerpen was the next Cardinal to find the endzone on a 59-yard punt return.  The field goal attempt failed giving G-H/V a 13-0 lead.  Osage returned a kickoff 93-yards for a Green Devil’s TD.  The PAT failed for a  first quarter score of 13-6.

Osage collected the next two touchdowns, before VanGerpen picked off a Haaland pass and returned it 34-yards for a Cardinal TD just before the half.  The two-point conversion run attempt failed for a halftime score of 20-19.

VanGerpen ended up in the endzone for a third time on a 31-yard run in the third quarter.  VanGerpen was again the ball carrier on the two-point conversion, collecting two more points for the Cardinals.  Osage scored on a five yard run for a 27-26 Cardinal lead at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was a nail biter, with Osage gaining a five point advantage.  The ending was looking up for the Cardinals, when Shaw found VanGerpen for an apparent game winning 45-yard touchdown pass, bringing the crowd to their feet for the final play.  A penalty, however, called the TD back and the victory went to Osage, 32-27.

    “We came out very well,” said Coach Scott VanDusseldorp.  “We were able to correct some of our blocking assignment problems from last week.  I am very proud of how our kids - Read More Via e-Edition