Pic courtesy of Lori Vogts Wilson
Last year the game was decided by a failed 2pt conversion by the Little River Redskins that gave the Ell-Saline Cardinals a 38-36 victory. This year was also decided by a 2pt conversion but it the Cardinals converting a point after try with 33 seconds left to take down the 8M-I #2 ranked team. Little River came into Friday with a perfect 5-0 record while Ell-Saline was 4-1 on the season. It was only Ell-Saline’s second home game of the season and it was also homecoming so the Cardinal fans would pack the stands.
Little River would get on the board first with 4:43 left in the 1st quarter as senior running back Jaron Garrison would find the endzone on a 8 yard touchdown run and the Redskins would take a 6-0 lead.
After an Ell-Saline drive would stall at the Little River 2 yard the Redskins would take over on downs. Little River would drive right down the field and junior running back Jhet Ewret would break a 35 yard run on his way to a touchdown. The Redskins would take a 14-0 lead into the locker room.
Ell-Saline would get the ball to start the 2nd half and the Cardinals would put together a flawless drive that was capped off by a 1 yard touchdown plunge by senior running back Kas Kramer. The Cardinals would still trail 14-6 with 6:04 left in the 3rd quarter.
It was back and forth until 5:48 left in the game as Little River senior quarterback Jaxson Konen would score a Redskins touchdown on a 1 yard QB keeper and would take a 20-14 lead.
Ell-Saline would march right down the field but they would be turned over on downs at around the Little River 15 yard line and the Redskins would take over on offense.
The Cardinals would hold them on 3 straight plays and the Redskins were forced to punt it back to Ell-Saline. The Cardinals would get the ball back with just under 2 minutes left to play in the game and no timeouts.
Senior quarterback Reese Krone would go to work as he would shred the Little River defense with pass after pass as the Cardinals would find themselves on the 8 yard with less then a minute to play. With 33 seconds left Reese Krone would pitch it to Kas Kramer and he would execute the pitch pass to perfection as he would find senior receiver Collin Dent wide open in the back of the endzone and the Cardinals tied it up at 20 a piece.
On the 2pt conversion Kas Kramer would line up in the Wildcat and he would hand it to junior running back Jaxson Seed on a jet sweep and he would beat the Little River defense to the pylon and the Cardinals led 22-20.
Little River still had some time left and was driving but senior defensive back Collin Dent would intercept Little River quarterback Konen in the back of the endzone to seal the win for the Cardinals. Ell-Saline defense would pick Konen twice on the night while also forcing 3 fumbles.
Reese Krone would finish the night 13-19 with 185 yards and added 6 carries for 39 yards on the ground. Krone was also crowed homecoming king at halftime with Sara Lutes winning the homecoming queen. Kas Kramer would finish with 13 carries for 47 yards and 2 touchdowns and added 2 catches for 33 yards. Kramer would also throw the game winning touchdown pass and had an interception on defense as well. Collin Dent finished with 5 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown to go along with the game sealing interception. Trey Williams finished with 5 catches for 77 yards to once again lead the Cardinals in receiving yards.
Ell-Saline moves to 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in district play and will be on the road next week as they travel to Goessel to take on the Bluebirds to continue distract play. Little River falls to 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in district play and will travel to Claflin next Friday to take on a tough Central Plains Oilers squad in a ranked matchup.
City Plumbing and HVAC Player of the Game: Kas Kramer
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