The Coon Rapids Cardinals outlasted the Osseo Orioles 28-14 on Thursday evening in a cold, wet and windy Northwest Suburban Conference game.
The Cardinals won for only the second time this season but Head Coach Jon Young feels this win was the biggest of the year thus far and quite possibly one of the most important in his three years coaching at Coon Rapids. After a heart breaker at Park Center last week, Young felt his team came out with high intensity and had great sideline energy throughout the game.
The Coon Rapids defense had just come off a poor outing just five days before in Park Center. In Thursday's game, the defense was able to put their last performance behind them. They were able to stop the Osseo attack when it mattered most putting their own offense in the best position to score.
Besides one good drive from each of these teams, the first half was riddled with stop-and-go football. Both teams committed drive killing penalties along with dropped balls and missed throws.
Osseo (2-4) got things started on their first play from scrimmage. Senior quarterback Travis Kreuter hit his favorite target of the day, six-foot-three-inch junior Jameer Jackson with a short pass which Jackson turned into a big 53 yard gain after the catch to the Coon Rapids five yard line. Kreuter then hit Jackson again on a nice slant to give Osseo a 7-0 lead.
The Coon Rapids (2-4) offense was unable to respond until the second quarter. Senior quarterback Brandon Flippen chucked a long pass to senior wide receiver Brad Eutenuer just inside the Osseo five yard line. On the very next play, Flippen looked the defense off to the right, then he found Eutenuer with a nice throw for six just inside the left pylon to make the score 6-7. The extra point was no good.
In almost the same way they started their first drive, Osseo marched down the field with their first possession of the second half. Kreuter again hit Jackson deep for 52 yards down to the Cardinals' 15 yard line. On the very next play, Kreuter gunned a throw to Junior wide receiver Joey Sonnefeld for a nice 15 yard score to make it 14-6 Osseo.
The Home team wasn't having any of that. Flippen led his team with some short passing eventually leading the Cardinals to the Osseo two yard line. Senior running back Jeremy Oakley plowed through for the touchdown, along with a two-point conversion to tie it up at 14 a piece.
The most impressive play of the game came when Coon Rapids was facing a fourth and thirteen at the Osseo twenty-three yard line. Coach Young called his kicker back after his team called for a time out. Flippen then threw a pass towards the left-corner end zone to a back peddling junior wide receiver Tom Hanson who made a beautiful, over the shoulder catch as he twisted to the ground keeping the football snug to his chest for the score. The successful extra point made it 21-14 in favor of Coon Rapids.
After an Osseo fumble at the Coon Rapids one yard line, the running attack of Jeremy Oakely and sophomore Mo Ward took over. Coon Rapids drove 98 yards with 87 coming from Oakley alone on seven plays. After a nice 30 yard run from Oakley to the Osseo five yard line, Oakley again punched it in for six. This demoralized the tired Osseo team with a 28-14 score with only seconds to play and giving Coon Rapids their biggest win of the season.
That's amazing that their conference game was their second win of the season. Coon Rapids lost to Park Center, that's too bad. Good story, I liked the way you added all the important information.
ReplyDeleteGood job. I really like how descriptive you are. Maybe you should be a writer for a sports column.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo with your story! I agree with Rebekah. You should seriously consider writing for a sports column.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story! I agree with the last two comments. =] You are really discriptive, and you even got a photo!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your article. I thought that you did a really nice job summarizing your event. I have to agree with Rebekah and Ashley I think that you would do a great job writing for a sports column.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments guys. It's nice to hear the feed back.
ReplyDeleteThis was very impressive. I thought I was reading it straight out of the paper.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love how you covered the football game. I have never thought to cover an event like that because I figured it would be too confusing. Which, in truth it is because I don't understand football. I get some of the rules and points and such, but not enough to actually write a story on it. It was nicely done and I enjoyed reading it. The whole time I was picturing the only football game I have seen in years and that was the Vikings against someone that I can't remember. I do remember the game being extremely intense and it all came down to two seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter and the other team was attempting a field goal. If they would have gotten the field goal they would have won, even though we were ahead the whole game. Fortunately for us they did not complete the field goal and we won! :D
ReplyDeleteI think it's incredible how you can attend a football game, and write in so much detail! I probably wouldn't be able to come up with more than a paragraph to say. Great job!
ReplyDelete