Pender hands RHS another loss
RANDOLPH — It’s been a tough start to the football season for the Randolph Cardinals, but optimism remains among the coaches and players as they prepare to continue battling.
The Cardinals hosted Pender on a rainy Thursday evening and fell behind 46-0 early, before dropping the 58-8 decision.
“The conditions were wet, and we struggled to move the ball down the field,” Randolph head coach Mark Lech said.
The Cards simply could not overcome so many miscues, Lech said.
“There were multiple factors that hampered the Cardinals from dropped passes, to fumbles, to penalties and Pender is too good of a team to not take advantage of those miscues,” he said. “We played a little more sound in the second half and we’re able to move the ball and put some points on the board.”
Isaiah Salmon ran for 55 yards on 11 carries and scored the program’s first touchdown this season, a one-yard touchdown run with 8:39 left in the third quarter to end the game’s scoring.
“The defense struggled handling Pender’s speed and gave up not only long runs for scores, but also a couple of punt returns for touchdowns,” Lech said. “Ajay Gubbels led the team in tackles and had a good night on that side of the ball.”
Junior Ajay Gubbels said that he still believes that the Cardinals are a good team, but they are just very young with only four seniors.
“It’s going to take some time for the younger guys to learn the fundamentals and get that kind of stuff down,” Gubbels said. “Pender ran the ball really well. It started downpouring and it affected both of us, but there was missed tackles and missed reads. Their running back and kick returner were really fast, and we couldn’t keep up with them really.
“After halftime we regrouped and just tried to forget about the first half, and we started to do our fundamentals right and drove down the field and got the score. It felt good to finally get on the board and it was a relief.”
Gubbels said the second half performance gives the squad some optimism going forward.
“We didn’t let them score too much and some of the younger guys who didn’t play much in the first half got in and started making plays which got us excited,” he said.
Randolph hosts Emerson-Hubbard Friday night in hopes of winning its first game. Randolph beat the Pirates last year.
“The Pirates opened the season with a win and have always been a team that we have had good games with,” Lech said. “Emerson-Hubbard is the one team Randolph beat last season, so the boys have confidence that they can end their Homecoming night on a high note.”
Gubbels said this game is a big one for the team morale.
“It’s really important after our first two games that were pretty big losses,” Gubbels said. “If we can get a win on Homecoming and for our hometown … we are really excited to go out there, give it our best and hopefully get the win.”
Randolph 0 0 8 0 —8
Pender 46 12 0 0 — 58
PASSING
Randolph - Isaiah Salmon, 2-13-21. Dayton Winkelbauer, 1-5-8.
RUSHING
Randolph - Isaiah Salmon, 11-55; Dayton Winkelbauer, 2-3; Bryson Eledge, 11-1; Carter Olson, 2-1.
RECEIVING
Randolph - Collyn Beal, 1-17; Bryson Eledge, 1-8; Jacob Caulder, 1-4.
TACKLES
Randolph - Ajay Gubbels, 8; Tom Korth, 7; Bryson Eledge, 5; Shaw Backer, 5; Carter Olson, 4; Isaiah Salmon, 4; Dominic Wilcox, 3; Andy Hausmann, 2; Gavin Wortman, 2; Jacob Calder, 1; Aeden Ottis, 1; Walt Hammond, 1.
