Cardinals breathing sigh of relief, but Bulldogs won’t be pushover
by Cedric Inglehart
Friday, September 9, 2011
Gonzales Cannon Article | St. Paul Cardinal Football | Shiner Home Page
SHINER -- It went down to the last play but the Cardinals away with a dramatic 38-34 win over Stockdale last Friday, keeping their 17-game winning streak alive.
Coach Paul Johnston said the victory was a little bittersweet because there were so many instances in the game where his team didn’t effectively execute.
"We’ve got to get a lot better," he said. "We had 32 missed tackles and we didn’t block a soul on offense."
Up next for St. Paul are the hard-luck Flatonia Bulldogs, who finally got into the win column with a 26-2 win over Bloomington after losing their first two games by a total of nine points.
"They could be 3-0 right now," said Johnston. "They lost two games that could have gone either way, so they’re really a whole lot better than what their record shows. Coach Freytag has done a great job with his staff and in coaching his guys up. They’re very disciplined, they block well, they tackle well and I think they’re going to be a good challenge for us."
Johnston said a big factor in determining the winner of Friday’s matchup will be how well the Cardinal defense can contain Flatonia quarterback Colby Mica, who has gained 712 total yards for 10 combined scores.
"He’s definitely somebody we’ll have to do our best to try to slow down," Johnston said. "I think he’s probably the key component of what makes their offense go."
Adding to the regular pressure of winning Friday night is the annual spectacle of Homecoming Night.
"Homecoming is always a neat deal for the fans, but as a coach I always worry about it," said Johnston. "The kids are distracted all week with the festivities and I always worry about how much that takes away their focus on the game itself. I think all of the activities are great, but the bottom line is what happens on the field and you don’t want to get so caught up in it that the kids are distracted."
This will be the fourth game for the Cardinals playing under the new system Johnston brought to town with him when he took over the program last month, but for the most part, all of the bugs seem to have been worked out.
"The kids have taken to all of the changes well, but the execution still has to get better," Johnston said. "Our depth is so thin right now that I think fatigue plays a big part in that. What we’re really hoping to see as the season goes on is for some of our younger kids with no experience to get coached up and get them on the field more. They’re just not ready for that yet, but that’s our game plan for the long-term."
The game plan for Flatonia is to eliminate the mental miscues that are responsible for the turnovers that have plagued them thus far. The Bulldogs have seven giveaways on the year, including six fumbles.
"Honestly out of the first three games, Friday was probably the worst we’ve played all year," said Flatonia head coach Chris Freytag. "We did get the ‘W’ and that’s the main thing. We still had too many mistakes like fumbles, we need to protect the ball better. We fumbled four times and lost three, so anytime you do that you’re lucky to come out with a victory."
"We have to be able to tackle better and we have to protect the football. We’ve addressed that all week in practice because we can’t turn the ball over and still beat a very, very good team like St. Paul."
The Bulldog defense has allowed 277 yards per game, but Freytag expects them to be challenged this week by the Cardinals passing attack.
"St. Paul likes to spread you out and throw the football," he said. "They have very good skill kids and some good linemen. They play hard, they’re well-coached and they’re on a 17-game winning streak. When you put all of those factors together, it’s going to be a tough game."
The main task for the Bulldog D will be holding down the production of St. Paul’s three-headed monster of running backs Adam Hollenbach and Martin Kennedy, and quarterback Dakota Kresta.
"Hollenbach had 40-plus touchdowns last year," said Freytag. "The Kennedy kid is also a good runner, they run a lot of jet sweeps to him. Those kids are very good at moving the ball and the quarterback does a great job of distributing the ball."
Freytag is hoping Flatonia’s balanced offensive attack will be able to sustain drives against a Cardinal defense that was porous at times last week in allowing 366 yards to Stockdale.
"St. Paul really flies to the football on defense," Freytag said. "Their secondary will be the best one that we will face all year. We’re going to use the pass to set up the run and use the run to set up the pass. We’re going to try to be an unpredictable as possible. We’ve always got a trick or two up our sleeve, so we might use a little bit of that too."
The game will kickoff Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Shiner’s Comanche Stadium.
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