Picture courtesy of Lacey Gosvener

For the third week in a row the Ell-Saline Cardinals were on the road as they traveled to Wakeeney to open up 8M-I District 5 play against the Trego Community Golden Eagles. The Cardinals used their stubborn defense and big games from seniors Jaxsen Seed and Branton Gosvener to pick up their first win of the season 34-14.

Ell-Saline got the scoring started with a long drive capped off by a 6-yard touchdown run from Branton Gosvener. After a failed 2-point conversion the Cardinals led 6-0.

The Cardinals also scored the next touchdown of the ballgame, this time through the air as Julian Roche found Jaxsen Seed wide open on a wheel route to lead 12-0.

Ell-Saline continued to pile it on in the first half. Jaxsen Seed scored his second touchdown of the night as he used his legs to scamper in from 5  yards out and the Cardinals led 20-0 going into the locker room.

It was back and forth to start the 3rd quarter but with 3:17 left to go the Golden Eagles finally reached the endzone. Senior Jack Conness took a hand off from Vladon Crawford and punched it in from the 1-yard line and closed the Cardinal lead to 20-6.

Less than a minute of gametime later, after a big kick return from JT Moye set the Cardinals up with good field position, Branton Gosvener scored his 2nd rushing touchdown of the game. This time Gosvener used pure strength to carry six players into the endzone on a 10-yard touchdown run that put the Cardinals up 28-6.

Ell-Saline scored its final touchdown within the final minute of the third quarter as Jaxsen Seed broke a couple tackles on the way to a 57-yard touchdown. The Cardinals took a commanding 34-6 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Cardinals were able to keep the Golden Eagles out of the endzone until the final :30 seconds of the game as Trego’s Aceton Walt recovered a blocked punt in the endzone after a bad snap sailed over JT Moye’s head and he tried to punt it. It was a little too late for the Golden Eagles as the Cardinals picked up a huge district road win with a 34-14 victory.

With the win, Ell-Saline moves to 1-3 on the season and 1-0 in district 5 play and will be back in Brookville with a non-district matchup against the Hoxie Indians. Trego Community drops to 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in district play and travel to Bennington to take on the Bulldogs.

City Plumbing, Heating and HVAC Player of the Game: Jaxsen Seed (Unofficial stats: 24 carries; 133 yards. 2 TD’s also 1 catch for 22 yards and a TD)

Radio Rebroadcast

Senior Spotlight: Sawyer Cook