The last time the Little River Redskins defeated the Ell-Saline Cardinals was during their inaugural 8-man meeting back in 2022. Since then, Ell-Saline had won 3 straight including a pair of two point wins the last two seasons. That changed Friday evening as the Redskins depth and athleticism proved to be too much for the Cardinals who struggled offensively and fell 46-0 in Brookville.

It was back and forth for most of the first quarter with both teams trading possessions. It was not until the 1:25 mark of the 1st quarter that the Redskins were able to find the end zone. Junior quarterback Nash Look found senior tight end Blayne Baldetti in the back of the end zone and the Redskins led 8-0.

Just when Ell-Saline had done a great job keeping Little River out of the end zone in the first half, a couple turnovers led to 14 more Redskins’ points in the last two minutes of the half. The last touchdown of the half came on an untimed down as senior quarterback/running back Jaron Garrison connected with sophomore Jake White and Little River took a 22-0 lead into the locker room.

Ell-Saline received the 2nd half kickoff and after a huge run by senior quarterback Julian Roche, the Cardinals looked to be in business inside Redskin territory. The drive came to an end with another Ell-Saline turnover and the Redskins took advantage. With 5:28 left in the 3rd quarter Little River’s Jaron Garrison recorded his 2nd passing touchdown as senior Logan Schubert caught a screen pass from Garrison and ran it in from six yards out.

It did not take long for Little River to find the end zone again as junior Eastyn Wohletz picked off Julian Roche and returned it 25 yards for pick-6, increasing the lead to 34-0.

The Cardinals offense continued to struggle in the second half as they could not get anything going against the swarming Redskins defense.

In the 4th quarter Little River scored twice with Nash Look scoring his second rushing touchdown of the game before Duncan Olander came off the sidelines to score on a 5-yard run, giving Little River the 46-0 victory with just under three minutes left.

With the loss, Ell-Saline drops to 0-1 on the season and will begin a three game road trip next Friday, starting with the Central Plains Oilers. Little River moves to 1-0 on the season and will be at home next Friday against Herington.

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