October 17, 2023
Earlham football has been good for a long time. In most seasons, it isn’t uncommon for the Cards to blow out an opponent or two, so fans—and even the players and coaches—kind of expect it to happen occasionally.
But the way the Cards dismantled South Central Calhoun—an excellent team with plenty to play for at home—left many observers astonished last Friday. Earlham outplayed the Titans in every way imaginable in Lake City, winning 52-14. In what turned out to be a battle for the 2nd seed in District 7, the Titans were simply no match for the Cardinals.
“This is a really well-coached team,” said Coach Caskey about the Cardinals’ opponent. “(Titans head coach Bryan Case) has been around a long time. His teams are always good. We just executed very well tonight.”
To say the least. The Cardinals rushed for almost 500 yards. The Earlham blockers consistently knocked would-be tacklers into next week, while the ball carriers ran like they were on fire. Defensively, the Cardinals had an answer for everything the Titans tried and held them 16 points below their scoring average. The positive attitude and ‘want to’ that have been so prevalent this season with whatever 11 players are on the field reached a peak on this night. This is a team that is simply not going to give any less than their best effort every night.
SCC recovered the opening pooch kick by the Cards and went to work from their own 35 yard line. The Titans have one of the best quarterbacks in the district, 6’5” 202 lb. Gavin Batta, and he sliced and diced the Cardinal defense with short passes. The Titans scored a touchdown in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead.
The Cardinals answered right back. Starting at their own 41, the Cards hammered away with runs by Caleb Smith and Ryan Stiles. Stiles finished off the 8-play drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. The PAT was no good, so the Cards trailed, 7-6.
The Titans’ first drive looked easy, but the Cardinals made adjustments with their linebackers after that, thwarting SCC’s passing game for the rest of the night. The Cards forced a 3-and-out on SCC’s next drive, and after the punt, they took over at their own 20. Smith started the drive with a 37-yard run into Titan territory. Six plays later, he scored from 6 yards out. Stiles scored on the 2-point conversion and the Cardinals led, 14-7.
After forcing another Titan punt, the Cardinals got the ball back on their own 32. On 3rd down, Stiles broke a long run to the Titan 17. Two plays later, Smith ran 14 yards for another TD. Blake Reynolds threw to Jeret Petersen for the 2-pointer and the Cards led, 22-7, with 8:54 left in the 1st half.
The Cardinals recovered the onside kick but gave the ball back to the Titans three plays later with a fumble. The teams exchanged punts, and SCC took over at their own 47. They scored on a slick, 5-play drive to make the score 22-14.
The Cards started their next drive at the 38. On a 2nd-down play, Smith broke a run across the 50 yard line. He looked to be bottled up near the sideline, but he kept going, breaking tackles and dragging defenders all the way down to the 20 for a 45-yard run. Six plays later, Smith ran 4 yards for a touchdown. The Cards 2-point conversion attempt failed, so they led, 28-14, with 28 seconds left in the half.
As good as the Cardinals looked in the 1st half, they absolutely dominated the 3rd quarter. After a penalty on the 2nd-half kickoff, the Cards had the ball on their own 17. The o-line had had their way with the Titans’ defensive front for most of the night, but in the 3rd quarter, they wore them down to a nub. The Cards put together a 15-play drive, capped with another TD run by Smith. The 2-pointer was good, and the Cards led 36-14.
The Cardinals recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Titans’ 43. On a 4th down and 3 play, Smith ran 32 yards to set the Cards up on the SCC 8. Stiles scored on the next play, and after the Cardinal 2-pointer, the Cards led, 44-14.
On 2nd down of the Titans’ next drive, Blaine Tiedemann intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the Cardinal 42. On the next play, Reynolds noticed no one covering wideout Brogan Wolfe. He lobbed a long pass downfield, Wolfe caught it, and ran untouched for a 58-yard TD. After another 2-point conversion, the Cards led, 52-14 with under a minute to play in the 3rd.
With a running clock, the 4th quarter zipped by, and the Earlham 2nd string enjoyed about 8 minutes of playing time.
Stiles finished with 229 yards on 19 carries and Smith carried the ball 24 times for 217 yards. Reynolds completed 3 of 4 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. Keegan Long led the defense with 4.5 tackles. With the win, the Cardinals (5-3) moved into 2nd place in the district standings and earned a home playoff game. They will take on Central Decatur (5-3) this Friday. Earlham is #14 in the most current BCMoore rankings and Central Decatur is #25. The Cards beat Central Decatur, 25-7, in the opening game of the season on August 25.
Earlham Echo 
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