ELDON — The Cardinal Comets entered the second half against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont looking for one stop to be able to catch up with the Rockets.

By the end of the night Friday, the Comets were still looking for that stop. There was nothing that could stop the Rockets in the second half.

Drake Menius made his first game of his senior season one to remember, gaining 249 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns. Dillon Pigsley added three rushing touchdowns in just over six minutes in the third quarter as E-B-F turned a tight game into a rout in less then a quarter with five unanswered second-half touchdowns paving the way to a 48-13 Class 1A, District 6 win over the Comets.

Maybe it was just one dominant quarter. Maybe it was one talented senior making to most of his return to the gridiron. Or maybe Friday night marked the turning point to a big season for Eric Kellar’s squad.

“I’ve been telling these guys all year they’re a good team and we will be a good team throughout the year,” Kellar said. “When we have all our pieces in place, we capable of playing like this every week.”

No one at Cardinal High School football field could have guessed what the scoreboard would ultimately read halfway through Friday’s district opener. The Comets, after all, were the ones that took momentum with them into halftime after getting a late touchdown pass from Dakota Showman to Neil Urtado to pull to within 14-6 of the Rockets.

That was the score entering the third quarter. Twelve minutes and four touchdowns later, EBF had a 41-6 lead and sudden, total command.

“We were just out-physicaled. I don’t know if we got tired or we weren’t 100 percent on our assignments, but E-B-F came in here and kicked us,” Cardinal head coach Adam Hadenfeldt said. “We just were not able to get it done from a physicality standpoint.”

“I tell the guys that you may get your name in the Courier if you score a touchdown, but it’s those guys up front that get you there. The offensive line really stepped it up for us,” Kellar added.

That line had extra incentive to open holes on Friday with Menius returning to run through those openings for E-B-F. After being held out of the first two games of the season, the Rocket senior was eager to make up for lost time.

Menius’ first touch came on a 34-yard punt return that gave the Rockets the ball inside the Cardinal 10. His 30-yard run put E-B-F back inside the 10 on the second play of the second series and his 19-yard catch of a Trevor Swartz pass came on a key fourth-and-goal to give EBF the lead for good with the first score of the night.

“It felt so great to get back out to play with these guys,” Menius said. “That was the kind of start I needed. Being out for two games wasn’t good, but I’m glad to be back.”

Menius scored the Rockets’ second touchdown on a six-yard run to cap a second-quarter drive that featured a fake-punt, first-down pass and a scramble and pass completion on third-and-15 by quarterback Trevor Swartz. Cardinal, however, refused to be deflated and drove 61 yards late in the second quarter to pull within a touchdown when Urtado caught a pass in the middle of three Rockets two minutes before the half.

“That put us right back in the ball game. We were able to go into the second half feeling like we had a shot,” Hadenfeldt said.

In less then two minutes, EBF set a new tone for the night and possibly their season by taking advantage of Cardinal’s focus to slow Menius. Pigsley, who rushed two times for four yards in the first half, darted through defenders on the fifth play of the second half for a 45-yard touchdown run.

A three-and-out by Cardinal gave EBF the ball back quickly, leading to Pigsley’s second scoring run less then three minutes later. After failing to cover the following kickoff, Cardinal gave EBF another short field and gave up another Pigsley touchdown run with 5:44 to go in the quarter, turning a one-score game into a 35-6 instant domination.

“Right before the first play (of the second half), I turned to our line and said it was all up to them,” Pigsley said after carrying the ball 10 times for 79 yards. “I couldn’t have done what I did without them taking care of business up front.”

Neither team gets much of a break next week. The Comets (2-1, 0-1) will step out of district play on the road at West Burlington-Notre Dame.

“I told the guys that everything they want to do this season is still right there in front of them. We just have to figure out how to play with a good team for two full halves,” Hadenfeldt said.

EBF, meanwhile, face the stiffest test in the state for their second district game. The Rockets (2-1, 1-0) head to top-ranked Iowa City Regina next Friday to face the defending 2A state champs.

“I told the guys they had better be thinking about Regina when they got on the bus,” Kellar said.



Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 48, Cardinal 13

EBF     6    8    28     6    —    48

Card.    0    6     0     7    —    13

Scoring By Quarters

First Quarter

EBF — Drake Menius 19 yard pass from Trevor Swartz (kick failed), 4:28

Second Quarter

EBF — Menius 6 yard run (Jeren Glosser pass from Swartz), 5:41

C — Neil Urtado 16 yard pass from Dakota Showman (kick failed), 2:09

Third Quarter

EBF — Dillon Pigsley 45 yard run (kick failed), 10:13

EBF — Pigsley 9 yard run (Ty Jager pass from Swartz), 7:19

EBF — Pigsley 5 yard run (Levi Johnston kick), 5:49

EBF — Menius 30 yard run (kick failed), :43

Fourth Quarter

EBF — Treg Van Dorin 6 yard run (Johnston kick), 3:10

C — Cole Campbell 74 yard kickoff return (Johnathan Pedersen kick), 3:01

TEAM STATISTICS

                EBF        Cardinal

First downs    25        7

Rushes-yards    47-359    21-(-3)

Passing yards    126        88

Total Yards    485        85

Comp-Att-Int    7-14-0    5-13-1

Return Yards    5-75    6-154

Fumbles-Lost    2-1        2-2

Penalties-Yds    13-83    5-46

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont

RUSHING — Drake Menius 11-109 yards, 2 td, fumble, Dillon Pigsley 10-79 yards, 3 td, Treg Van Dorin 5-60 yards, td, Tyler Scott 3 28 yards, Cory Archer 4-25 yards, Trevor Swartz 4-18 yards, Jeren Glosser 4-14 yards, Ty Jager 4-14 yards, Jake Boyer 4-12 yards.

PASSING — Swartz 6-13, 80 yards, td, Pigsley 1-1, 23 yards.

RECEIVING — Menius 5-65 yards, td, Trevor Leffler 1-23 yards, Jager 1-15 yards.

INTERCEPTIONS — Menius.

TACKLES — Glosser 4, Jager 4, Pigsley 4, Chance Wursta 3, sack, Cory Archer 2, Hunter Johnston 2, Levi Johnston 2, Leffler 2, Menius 2, 2 sacks, Bryce Wursta 2, sack, Stacy Boyer, sack, Jason Crosby, sack, fumble recover, Kacy Dunwoody, Aaron Gordon, Clay Lathan, Blake Marloff, Tyler Scott, Swartz, Van Dorin, sack, Bret Wursta.

Cardinal

RUSHING — Johnathan Pedersen 7-15 yards, Nathan Yeager 2-1 yard, Charlie Rachford 1-(-7) yards, Dakota Showman 11-(-12) yards, fumble.

PASSING — Showman 5-13, 88 yards, td, int.

RECEIVING — Neil Urtado 2-42 yards, td, Brandon Potts 1-21 yards, Cole Campbell 1-14 yards, Brandon Eklofe 1-11 yards.

TACKLES — Yeager 10, sack, Tyler Albert 8, Pedersen 8, fumble recovery, Campbell 5, Cody Carter 3, Quinn Honomichl 3, Johnathan Rupe 3, Potts 3, Tyler Batterson 2, Josh Ramos 2, Showman 2, Urtado 2, Eklofe, Logan Laughlin, Trenten Long, Sam Schmidt.