The Elizabeth Cardinals were looking to take a major step forward last week when facing Englewood and its stellar quarterback, Carson Campbell.
Thanks to a couple of big plays, both offensively and defensively, the Cardinals truly ‘Cash’ed in a big win to keep pace with seven other still-undefeated Class 2A teams.
Cash Randle scored four times in the 49-6 victory, including two rushing touchdowns, a receiving touchdown and a 75-yard interception return that he took all the way back for six points. While the entire Elizabeth roster found success in the ground game, Randle had just four carries and amassed 156 yards – his second 100-yard game of the year.
The senior and his teammates are rolling ahead of a Friday night top-10 matchup against Kent Denver, which also rolled to a 54-7 victory against Denver West last week and is one of those other undefeated teams in 2A. The two 5-0 teams have met each of the past two seasons, with Elizabeth taking both of those games.
Who’s stopping Delta?
With Elizabeth and Kent Denver ringing in at Nos. 4 and 8 in the latest Select Media Football Poll, they are still chasing the Delta Panthers who are once again No. 1 after improving to 6-0 last week.
Their latest victory, however, didn’t come without some adversity. Delta squeaked past Pagosa Springs, 14-7, after a pair of DHS fumbles kept the Pirates in the game. In fact, Pagosa scored on a fumble return for a touchdown and had possessions in the second half that could have tied the game up. Delta’s defense rose to the occasion to keep its perfect record intact.
“Pagosa had a good defense, but most of our miscues were self-inflicted,” Delta head coach Ben Johnson told the Delta County Independent. “We fumbled the ball four times and went out on downs inside the red zone twice. We just didn’t execute very well. Ty Reed had a 70-yard touchdown pass to Rylan Bynum that was a beautiful ball, but the rest of our offense was fumbles, turnovers and a lack of execution.”
Indeed, Reed did provide just enough stability in the game with a touchdown pass and a touchdown run.
The Panthers face Salida this week before having a bye week. Salida is 4-2 but is coming off a 42-13 loss against Montezuma-Cortez to open its 2A Intermountain League slate.
Dove Creek creeping up
The Dove Creek-Sanford football series has typically been pretty hard to predict, with each team having lopsided victories against each other while sprinkling in some bare-knuckle brawls at other times. Friday’s latest matchup was one of the latter. A high-scoring first half gave way to an edge-of-your-seat finish, as Sanford pulled within 30-28 in the fourth quarter before the 8-man No. 6 Bulldogs hung on for the win, improving to 5-1.
Last year’s state champions have a new coach in Jason Fury, but the squad is still lingering around and hopeful for a strong push to the end of the season.
“These guys are still working, and I just think we’re improving every week,” Fury told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show after the win. “We’re still working on our timing, working on getting right on more play-action passes, those kinds of things, and just working together.”
The rest of the story
Rye’s Dylan Hurne added 231 more yards off 34 carries to his resume this past week, giving him a state-leading 1,289 yards so far this season. He’s on pace for more than 2,500 yards before the regular season even closes out.
Salida’s Bryce Rodrigue is tied for the state lead in interceptions with six.
Miami-Yoder junior Gavin Howard has 23 total touchdowns with just four games registered, giving him an average contribution of 36.5 points per game to his team.
