Cardinals Come Up Short Against Top Ranked Lincoln Leopards

Photo courtesy of Diane Dowell

The Ell-Saline Cardinals finished the regular season Friday night as they welcomed the 8M-I top-ranked Lincoln Leopards for Senior Night with an 8M-I district 5 championship on the line. Ell-Saline kept it close in the first quarter before Lincoln pulled away in the 2nd quarter and coasted to a 60-30 victory.

Lincoln won the coin toss and elected to receive but senior wide receiver Xavier Miller fumbled the football on the third play of the game and the Cardinals had great field position. A few plays later Ell-Saline senior quarterback Julian Roche punched it in from 3 yards out and the Cardinals took a 8-0 early lead.

Lincoln answered quickly with a touchdown of their own as Xavier Miller took a jet sweep 42 yards to the end zone and things were knotted up at 8-8.

Next touchdown belonged to the Leopards as senior quarterback Jeremiah Miller found his twin brother Xavier Miller with a pass and he used the hook and ladder to pitch it to senior running back Ben Bell and he scored from 25 yards away.

Ell-Saline found an answer of their own on the next offensive possession as they marched down the field and Julian Roche capped off the drive with his second rushing touchdown of the game and things were all tied up at 14-14.

Lincoln scored again before the end of the first quarter as Ben Bell took a handoff from Jeremiah Miller and found the sideline and scampered in from 57 yards out to put the Leopards up 20-14.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their offense struggled to move the ball in the 2nd quarter and were outscored 28-0 as the Leopards took a commanding 48-14 lead into the locker room.

Ell-Saline was not going to go away easy as they started the 2nd half with the football and senior fullback Branton Gosvener took a dive play 58 yards for a touchdown to make it 48-22.

Lincoln found an answer once again as they went down the field and Xavier Miller scored his second rushing touchdown of the game and it was 54-22 Leopards.

Julian Roche and the Cardinal passing attack wanted to also get involved as Roche found junior tight end Lucas Swetson on a crossing route and Swetson took it 49 yards to the house and the score was 54-30.

The final touchdown of the game came with 3:05 left in the 3rd quarter as Jeremiah Miller found younger brother Jahdiel Miller over the middle and he scored to make it 60-30 Lincoln.

It was back and forth for the 4th quarter with neither team scoring and Lincoln was able to line up in the victory formation and wind down the final seconds with a 60-30 win and a district 5 championship.

With the loss, Ell-Saline finishes the regular season 4-4 and runners up in district 5 and will have a home playoff game in Brookville next week. Lincoln finishes the regular season 8-0 and will be at home to open the playoffs next week.

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