CARDINGTON — Visiting Colonel Crawford overcame a stubborn Cardington team and its own mistakes in posting a 28-12 non-conference victory Friday night.
The Pirates (0-3) gave a strong accounting of themselves in the loss, aided by the Eagles’ 150-plus yards in penalties.
“We’ve had way too many penalties in all three of our games and we’ve got to fix that,” CC head coach Ryan Teglovic said.
The Eagles are now 2-1 heading into Northern 10 Conference play.
“Mostly it was holding penalties. We just have to clean that up going forward.”
At least five Colonel Crawford touchdowns were called back due to penalties, including back-to-back holding calls in the second quarter that took points off the board.
Teglovic praised the play of Cardington and its standout running back Mason Goers.
“You have to give them credit. Number 5 is an unbelievable football player,” Teglovic said.
Goers rushed for 202 yards on 25 carries. The junior had touchdown runs of 32 and 30 yards.
The Eagles had 357 yards of total offense to Cardington’s 272.
Pirates first year head coach Tim Plumley had a message for his team prior to kickoff.
“We talked about coming out and playing as hard as we can,” he said. “We have tough kids. We talk about showing respect and love for one another.”
Quarterback Zye Shipman got the visitors on the scoreboard with a 5-yard run. Dylan Knisely added a 9-yard run with 1:40 left in the half. His 2-point conversion run made it 14-0 at halftime.
Knisely led Crawford with 127 yards rushing on 22 carries. Shipman added 43 and Tristan Cross 32.
Taking advantage of Eagles mistakes, Cardington made it a 14-6 contest when Goers scored with 45 second left in the third quarter.
“Cardington gives you everything it’s got. It has in all three of its games,” Teglovic said.
Nico Wade’s interception at the Cardington 30-yard-line stopped another Colonel Crawford drive in the third quarter.
Goers’ second touchdown pulled the hosts to within 21-12 with under 7 minutes to play.
But Cross bulled his way in from the six two minutes later to secure the win.
Jordan Fenner had three catches for 30 yards and Chase Walker two grabs for 30 yards for the Eagles.
Cardington freshman quarterback Nate Hickman showed poise in the pocket and completed 2-of-7 pass attempts for 21 yards.
INJURIES: “We’ve got kids injured and hopefully they’ll be back next week,” Plumley said.
One of those hurt was junior Cody Hiett, who was taken off the field on a stretcher after a block in the back in the second quarter.
“We think he’s OK. He appeared to be stable, but I need to go check on him,” Plumley said.
NEXT: The Pirates play Centerburg (2-1), which posted a 27-0 win over Northridge.
“They’re a good team and it’ll be another challenge for us.”
The Eagles host Upper Sandusky, who fell 31-0 to Galion.
HALL OF FAMER: Larry Coomer, a 1963 Cardington-Lincoln High School graduate, was inducted posthumously into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame during halftime ceremonies. He scored 519 points during his career.
