It was Senior Night in Brookville Friday night and the Ell-Saline Cardinals did not disappoint in front of a huge crowd with beautiful football weather. They got things going early and often as they would roll to a 54-14 win over the visiting Lincoln Leopards.
The Cardinals would strike first with 8:34 left in the 1st quarter as senior running back Joe Hiechel would find the end zone from 4 yards out.
Hiechel would score the next touchdown for Ell-Saline as well as he would catch the edge and scamper in from 20 yards out to put the Cardinals up 16-0 after the 1st quarter.
The Cardinals would continue to move the ball in the 2nd quarter and senior quarterback Marshall Johnson would call his own number and score on a 5-yard touchdown run.
After a safety by Ell-Saline the Cardinals would march right down the field again and senior running back Ryder Dent would get into the scoring action pounding it in from 5 yards out as he carried defenders over the goal line. The Cardinals would take a 32-0 lead into the locker room.
The only score in the 3rd quarter came from Ryder Dent as he would score his second touchdown of the game and 15th touchdown on the season and the Cardinals led 40-0
The Leopards would finally get on the scoreboard in the 4th quarter with 8:11 left to go in the game as senior quarterback Logan Meier would find freshman wide receiver Xavier Miller for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
Ell-Saline would answer with Marshall Johnson’s second rushing touchdown of the night as he would run it in from the 10-yard line.
Lincoln would try to close the gap but it was a little too late as freshman quarterback Jeremiah Miller would scramble in from 25 yards out.
Ell-Saline would score one more time in the ball game and this time it was through the air as Marshall Johnson would find Joe Hiechel with 15-yard pass and the Cardinals would roll to a 54-14 victory.
With the win Ell-Saline finishes the regular season with a 7-1 record on the season and 5-0 in Class 8-man DI District 5 which is good enough to get a trophy as district champs. As we wait to see the scores come in to see who the Cardinals will play next week, we know that it will be at home in Brookville next Friday night and likely be playing Quinter out of District 6.
Lincoln would finish the regular season at 5-3 and 3-2 in Class 8-man DI District 5 and will likely take on a Rawlins County squad who got beat by Hoxie on Friday night.
Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game: Joe Hiechel
H&R Block of the Game: Kas Kramer
Box Score
Lincoln – 0 – 0 – 0 – 14 / 14
Ell-Saline – 16 – 16 – 8 – 14 / 54