Don’t tell the Cardinal Huskies the playoffs don’t start for another few weeks.
With two losses this season, the Huskies approach every game as if it’s a win or go home situation and it showed on Friday in a 47-6 win over Newbury.
“We have a decent chance to make the playoffs at 8-2 and no chance to make it at 7-3,” said Cardinal coach Eric Cardinal. “Our playoff game, in all honesty, was with Newbury tonight. If we don’t win that game the playoffs were a fond memory. Now we have to win against Fairport next week and then we play Hawken and we have to win that game. In week 10 we have a rivalry game and we have to win. Any toe-stubbing and we’re out of it. We can’t think ahead. If we don’t go 8-2 we can’t think about week 11.”
The Huskies, who improved to 5-2 overall, definitely had a playoffs mindset against the Black Knights. Cardinal outgained Newbury, 520-190, and rushed 36 times for 506 yards.
Aside from one lost fumble, the Huskies played a near perfect game.
“We played a good, clean, efficient game,” Cardinal said. “We had 506 yards on the ground and nobody gained as much as 100 yards.”
Clark Thurling carried a team-high eight times to lead the Huskies with 78 yards and two touchdowns. Cody Purpura, Addison Dorn, Kyle Simms, KC Cress and Jeff Guinn all rushed for 50 yards or more in the game. Purpura, Sims, Cress and Jake Francis all rushed for touchdowns and Bobby Mrosko caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Sims.
“A lot of guys carried the ball and were efficient with the ball,” Cardinal said. “We only had one self-induced gaffe. We stopped them and they punted and they downed it at about the half yard line. We drove it from our 1-yard line to their 1, where we fumbled the ball on a 98 yard drive and got nothing out of it.”
Cardinal led 27-0 at halftime and didn’t allow Newbury into the end zone until the fourth quarter when the Huskies’ backups were in the game.
“We thought this was a trap game for us,” Cardinal said. “Newbury is vastly improved. Their staff has them playing really, really well for what they’ve got. I was very impressed with how they played the game but it obviously went our way.”
