The Crete Cardinals are taking a road trip to square off against the Northwest Vikings on Friday. Crete is no doubt hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Having struggled with seven defeats in a row dating back to last season, Crete finally turned things around against Lincoln Northwest on Friday. They claimed a resounding 46-7 win over the Falcons at home. The Cardinals' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Carson Kotil went supernova for Crete, rushing for 128 yards and two touchdowns, while also picking up 37 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave Kotil a new career-high in rushing yards. Nick Wendt was another key player, throwing for 166 yards and two touchdowns while completing 81.8% of his passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Crete was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 307 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 72.2 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three contests they've averaged 190.7.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Crete's defense and their four sacks. Lincoln Northwest's QB won't forget Braylon Souders anytime soon given he sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, Northwest hadn't done well against York recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Northwest narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past York 10-7. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Vikings as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Crete's first victory this season bumped their record up to 1-6. As for Northwest, their record is now 2-5.
Crete came up short against Northwest in their previous meeting back in October of 2019, falling 34-27. Thankfully for Crete, Rans Sanders (who rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 153 yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
