BROOKVILLE — Joe Roche tried to be realistic as he embarked on his sixth season as Ell-Saline’s head football coach.

The Cardinals were coming off three successful postseason runs but faced a major roster overhaul while also dealing with a murderous early schedule.

“Yeah, we expected a little bit,” Roche said of the growing pains that resulted in three straight losses to open the season. “Maybe not as much as we went through, but they’re young kids and they’re working hard.”

Head coach Joe Roche

“There’s a lot to learn, and we’re playing against some really good competition, so that doesn’t give you an easy time to learn new information.”

The Cardinals had to replace close to three-fourths of their starting lineup from last year’s 9-2 state quarterfinal team, and the early returns were not promising. They were blown out by Eight-Man II powerhouses Little River (46-0) and Hanover (50-0), sandwiched around a disappointing 24-22 setback at Central Plains.

“I knew it was going to take quite a while for us to learn just how to play with each other, especially since all of our guys who play now for the most part are all JV guys,” said senior running back and safety Jaxsen Seed, one of three returning defensive starters. “It took a little bit for them to get used to the varsity game.”

The good news for the Cardinals is they persevered — the first three opponents are currently a combined 16-2 — starting with an impressive 34-14 victory at Trego. They followed that with back-to-back home decisions against Hoxie (22-12) and Bennington, where last week they dispatched the Bulldogs in just one half, 58-0 to even their record at 3-3.

The Cardinals can climb above .500 for the first time Friday when they travel to Mankato to take on winless Rock Hills.

“I have to give them credit,” Roche said of his team’s turnaround. “We had a lot of unknown commodities out there — kids playing offensive line who didn’t play offensive line last year, or they might be playing a different offensive line position.”

“We have a new quarterback, a new running back and new receivers, so there’s a lot of room for improvement for sure, and they’re still learning.”

Julian Roche, the coach’s son, stepped in at quarterback after starting at center on the offensive line a year ago, and Seed replaced running back Kas Kramer, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards on 9.2 yards per carry. Returning left guard Asher Kejr, a junior, switched to center.

Senior Branton Gosvener

“Definitely there’s a different feeling from when we were 0-3,” said senior Branton Gosvener, a third-year starter at linebacker while playing a hybrid fullback/H-Back/tight end role on offense. “I feel now since we had those three losses on our back, teams are going to overlook us, and if they do, we’ll punch them in the mouth.”

Gosvener (52) and Julian Roche (36) lead Ell-Saline in tackles from their linebacker spots, followed by junior nose guard Kolter Christy and senior end Luke Walker with 25 stops each.

Roche, the only returning two-way starter, has embraced his new role on offense after serving as the backup quarterback to Reese Krone the previous two years. He said the transition from center has been surprisingly smooth.

Senior Julian Roche

“I think I’ve played enough in practice and scout team and JV my sophomore year that I’ve gotten enough snaps,” said Roche, who has completed 53% of his passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 357 and six scores. “It was natural.”

“The first game, I thought it was going to be weird and different, but it was just normal.”

In fact, he credited the offensive line experience for giving him a better overall grasp of the offense.

“I definitely took a lot more interest in the actual scheme of every play, because before I would think of an inside zone and just think of the backfield motion,” Roche said. “I would never even think about what’s up front and how holes can develop.”

“I think that has definitely been a big part of my game, to be able to understand that.”

Roche said his biggest strides have come in running the option, which also has helped Seed rush for a team-best 375 yards and seven touchdowns. Gosvener, the short-yardage specialist, has 144 yards and two scores to go with 11 catches for 109 yards, while JT Moye is the top receiver with 14 receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Cardinals have allowed just 26 points during their three-game winning streak.

Joe Roche, a self-described eternal optimist, now sees a positive path forward for his team after the rough start.

“I might not have said that right after week three, right after the Hanover game, but we’ve improved a lot,” he said. “Sometimes it takes three or four games for a kid or for a team to kind of realize their identity, and I think we found that in week four.”

“I was a little discouraged, but we didn’t change anything. We just kept working hard, and that was kind of a fun process to go through, just because we stayed on track.”

According to Seed, the players kept believing that better days were ahead.

Senior Jaxson Seed

“The group of guys we have, we’re all super positive, no matter what happens,” Seed said. “We all love the game, whether we win or lose, so we just keep a good attitude about everything.”

A victory over Rock Hills on Friday would push Ell-Saline’s district record to 3-0, securing a first-round home playoff game. The Cardinals close the regular season at home against No. 1-ranked Lincoln, likely with a district title on the line.

“We are completely, 100%, a different team than we were week one or week two or week three,” Julian Roche said. “In the past three weeks we’ve improved so much.”

For Joe Roche, seeing that growth has been especially rewarding.

“I knew we were going to have to coach a little harder and a little bit more, just because of the experienced players who were inexperienced about playing new position,” he said of the roster reshuffling. “But my expectations are still to make a deep playoff run.”

“We’ve got good kids, and they’ve been in this program since they were freshmen, earning their stripes. They’re ready.”