Picture courtesy of Diane Dowell

In the opening round of the Class 8M-I playoffs, the Ell-Saline Cardinals welcomed the Oberlin-Decatur Community Red Devils to Brookville. The Cardinals used five rushing touchdowns from senior running back Jaxsen Seed who finished with the with an unofficial stat line of 13 carries for 210 yards and five scores. Ell-Saline’s defense also turned the Red Devils offense away five times inside the red zone as they coasted to a 46-20 playoff win.

Ell-Saline got on the board first after the Cardinal defense forced the first turnover on downs and it took just two plays for the Cardinals to find the end zone afterwards. With 5:07 left in the first quarter, Jaxsen Seed  took a handoff from senior quarterback Julian Roche and Seed did the rest as he scampered in from 63 yards out to put the Cardinals up 8-0.

It took until the 4:07 of the second quarter for either team to score again and it was Oberlin with the answer. Junior quarter Brady Gehring found senior running back Josiah Pattangall on a slant and and the Cardinal lead was cut to 8-6.

After a big return on the ensuing quick off by junior JT Moye, Cardinals were set up inside Oberlin territory at the Red Devil 39 yard-line. Jaxsen Seed needed just one play to score his second rushing touchdown of the night as he used a big block from senior fullback Branton Gosvener to run it in from 39 yards away and the Cardinals led 14-6.

The next score belonged to the Ell-Saline defense as junior defensive back Lucas Swetson tipped a Brady Gehring pass to linebacker Branton Gosvener and he returned it 44 yards to extend the Cardinal lead to 22-6.

After a special teams penalty by Ell-Saline extended the Oberlin drive, the Red Devils quarterback Gehring found Pattangall again on that slant route and cut the Cardinal lead to 22-12 heading into the locker room.

Ell-Saline received the second half kickoff and it was back and forth for most of the third quarter. The Ell-Saline defense turned the Red Devils away twice inside the red zone in the quarter alone and five times on the evening. With 3:36 left in the third quarter the Cardinals defense stood strong and forced a turnover on downs at the Ell-Saline 4 yard line. Jaxsen Seed need just one play again as he raced down the sideline on his way to his third rushing touchdown on the night.

Oberlin scored one more time as Gehring recorded his third passing touchdown finding Pattangall once again this time from 26 yards away and it was back to a 30-20 lead for Ell-Saline.

With four minutes left in the game Jaxsen Seed continued his career night as he scored twice more in the game with his final and 5th rushing touchdown coming with 2:32 left in the game to put the game out of reach.

Oberlin threatened in the final minute of the game but it was once again the Cardinals defense turning the Red Devils away inside the Ell-Saline 5-yard line. Julian Roche was able to take the final snap in victory formation with a 46-20 victory.

With the win, Ell-Saline moved to 5-4 on the season and advanced to 8M-I regional round where they will travel to Leoti to take on the #3 Wichita County Indians. With the loss, Oberlin finished the season with a 4-5 record.

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