Cardinals rush past The Woodlands 27-24, return to state finals
Dave Mundy, Gonzales Cannon Editor
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Gonzales Cannon Article | St. Paul Cardinal Football | Shiner Home Page
GIDDINGS -- When he took over the St. Paul Cardinals at the start of this year on very short notice, coach Paul Johnston inherited a team which had gone 14-0 the year before by pounding the ball behind a big, experienced offensive line.
Cardinal running back Adam Hollenbach (21) looks for room around the end as led by quarterback Dakota Kresta (7) on Saturday night in Giddings. photos by Dave Mundy, Gonzales Cannon
Faced with the loss of much of that offensive line to graduation, Johnston promptly tailored his team to a new look and installed a wide-open spread offense which has become known for its air-it-out passing game.
Let it not be said, however, that playing the golden oldies every now and then doesn't have its advantages.
The Cardinals surprised The Woodlands Christian with a slashing ground game to open up a 20-0 first-half lead, then held on in the second half to edge the Warriers 27-24 in Saturday's state semifinal game, earning themselves a repeat berth in the state finals.
"We were intending to run the ball a little more today, but when you've got a 40-mile-an-hour gale-force wind blowing at you it makes it easy to decide that," Johnston said after the Cardinals used exclusively their ground game to pound out a pair of first-quarter touchdowns and force The Woodlands to play catch-up the rest of the evening. "We ran (the "jet sweep") a lot last week, too. It was in our game plan."
Taking full advantage was junior Adam Hollenbach, who scored both first-quarter TDs on runs of 7 and 75 yards, then caught a 28-yard scoring pass from Dakota Kresta to help stake the Cardinals to a 20-0 edge at intermission. Hollenbach, a thousand-yard rusher as both a freshman and sophomore in Jake Wachsmuth's more conventional offense, hasn't put up the glamor numbers in the new system but on this night rushed for 181 yards and caught three passes for 41 more.
The 20-point lead, however, almost wasn't enough as the Warriors mounted a comeback behind quarterback Todd Eaglin in the second half.
"He's a good athlete," Johnston said of Eaglin, who rushed for 146 yards and two scores and tossed TD passes of 33 and 43 yards to James Bento for two more scores. The difference was conversion points: Cole Hybner hit on three of four kicks for St. Paul, while all four of The Woodlands' point-after tries failed.
For St. Paul, the game-breaker came with 5:10 to play, and it was a defensive gem which provided the points. Facing a third-and-4 at his 38, Eaglin retreated to pass but found himself harassed by Laddie Patek. As Patek dragged him down, he tried to launch a desperation pass to avoid the sack -- but instead threw it into the waiting arms of Martin Kennedy, who returned the interception 24 yards to give the Cardinals a 27-12 lead.
Cardinal defender Martin Kennedy (17) pulls in an interception.
The Cardinals opened the contest facing into a howling wind, and thanks to a 70-yard kick return by Kennedy started at the Woodlands 25-yard line. A 14-yard pickup by Hollenbach got the ball inside the 10, and three plays later the junior slashed in from seven yards out for a quick 7-0 lead.
A deflection by Mitchell McElroy led to an interception by Dylan Barton on the Warriors' first play and St. Paul was right back in business at the Woodlands 38, but the Cardinals couldn't capitalize and turned the ball over on downs. The Woodlands got to midfield before stalling, and a wind-aided Eaglin punt rolled 57 yards before being killed at the Cardinals' 1-yard line.
Hollenbach and Brett Hodges helped push the Cardinals out of danger with a pair of first-down runs before Hollenbach found an open seam on the jet play and shot through, racing 75 yards to paydirt for a 14-0 lead.
The Cardinals padded their lead on their next series to start the second quarter after the wind blew an Eaglin punt backward eight yards. This time, Kresta fired a strike to Hollenbach behind the coverage good for a 28-yard TD.
While the Cardinal defense kept the Warriors frustrated in the first half, The Woodlands battled back in the second, with Eaglin doing the lion's share of the work. A 35-yard run on a quarterback draw helped set up a 3-yard run to cap a six-play, 57-yard drive to open the second half that cut St. Paul's lead to 20-6.
The Cardinals followed with an 11-play drive, but a chop-block penalty stalled it out at the Woodlands 36.
A fumble recovery by Cray Noah early in the fourth quarter helped get the Warriors back into the contest. A 25-yard run by Eaglin ignited a 65-yard drive capped by a 33-yard scoring bomb to Bento, who wrestled the ball away from two defenders to pull in the scoring toss and make it 20-12.
St. Paul pushed deep into Warrior territory before stalling out, and on fourth down a 34-yard field-goal try by Hybner came up short. Four plays later, Kennedy's interception gave the Cards a 27-12 cushion.
The Woodlands stormed back, with Eaglin and Bento connecting on a 27-yard pass play before another bomb covered 43 yards for the score to make it 27-18.
Another St. Paul fumble -- the Cardinals lost three in the contest -- got The Woodlands the ball back at midfield and Eaglin capitalized immediately, popping free on the quarterback draw and racing 55 yards to score.
The Cardinals recovered the onside kick try with 2:33 remaining in the game, however, and with Hollenbach picking up a first down, were able to run out the clock.
GAME STATISTICS:
statistics source: http://www.gonzalescannon.com/node/7379TEAM STATISTICS: St. Paul Woodlands First downs 17 13 Rushes-Yards 48-243 31-176 Passing Yards 127 124 Passes 7-11-0 9-27-3 Punts-Avg 2-31 3-28.3 Fumbles-Lost 5-3 1-0 Penalties-Yards 5-45 3-40 SCORING SUMMARY: 1 2 3 4 -- Final St. Paul 14 6 0 7 -- 27 Woodlands Chr. 0 0 6 18 -- 24 SCORING DETAILS: First Quarter StP -- Adam Hollenbach 7 run (Cole Hybner kick) StP -- Hollenbach 75 run (Hybner kick) Second Quarter StP -- Hollenbach 28 pass from Dakota Kresta (kick failed) Third Quarter TWC -- Todd Eaglin 3 run (run failed) Fourth Quarter TWC -- James Bento 33 pass from Eaglin (kick failed) StP -- Martin Kennedy 24 interception return (Hybner kick) TWC -- Bento 43 pass from Eaglin (kick failed) TWC -- Eaglin 55 run (run failed) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Rushing St. Paul, Adam Hollenbach 17-181, Martin Kennedy 9-40, Brett Hodges 6-10, Dakota Kresta 13-24, Team 3-(-12). Woodlands Christian, Todd Eaglin 21-146, Michael Sacks 6-25, Jeffrey Chen 3-5, Cray Noah 1-0. Passing St. Paul, Dakota Kresta 7-11-0-127. Woodlands Christian, Todd Eaglin 9-27-3-124. Receiving St. Paul, Adam Hollenbach 3-41, Justin Natal 2-22, Cole Hybner 1-51, Martin Kennedy 1-13. Woodlands Christian, Cray Noah 5-22, James Bento 3-103, Marcos Mora 1-(-1).St. Paul Cardinal Football | Shiner Home Page
GO CARDINALS !
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