September 2, 2025
Football
As in any first game of any season, the Cardinals had some good moments along with some bad moments against South Central Calhoun on the road last Friday. The good probably outweighed the bad, but against a tough opponent, it wasn’t quite enough—and the Cards lost, 20-14.
The Titans scored on their first two drives of the game, but then the Cardinal defense held them off the board until the 4th quarter. The Cardinal offense scored twice in a 4-minute span in the 2nd quarter, but other than that, they had trouble sustaining drives.
“I thought our defense got better the entire game,” said Coach Caskey. “The coaches did a great job making adjustments at halftime. Offensively, I didn’t make the adjustments. The offense sputtered in the 2nd half. (The Titan defense) did some things we hadn’t seen quite yet, and we didn’t adjust to them quick enough. We’re still figuring out what we have and what we can do.”
After recovering the Cardinals’ opening onside kick, the Titans drove 49 yards in 3 minutes for a touchdown—and then a 2-point conversion. The Titans forced an Earlham turnover on downs, then drove 45 yards for another TD. The Cards stopped the conversion attempt, but the Titans led, 14-0, with 1:43 to go in the 1st quarter.
On the Cardinals’ next possession, Josh Winey took a handoff and ran 33 yards to the SCC 39 yard line. Three plays later on 4th and 3, he broke outside for another long run, 31 yards, to the SCC 1. Winey scored a touchdown one play later with 9:30 to go in the 1st half. The PAT kick attempt was no good.
The Cardinals’ special teams unit rarely catches other teams off guard with onside kicks anymore—everybody just knows that Earlham is going to do something tricky. But the Cards still get their fair share of recoveries. They got one when they kicked off after their touchdown. Kicker Konnar Stiles drove a low skidder to the right that bounced off the chest of a Titan player. Stiles finished the job by recovering the ball at the Cardinal 49.
Cash Eitel ran twice, Winey ran four times, and the Cards had a 1st down at the SCC 27. After a good play fake, quarterback Brady Reynolds hit a streaking Jaxen Speedling on a medium crossing route for a touchdown. Cash Eitel ran in a 2-pointer, and the game was tied at 14 at the 5:40 mark.
The Cardinals came back with the same onside kick play. This time the ball bounced higher, and the Titan’s must have miscommunicated, because none of them went for the ball. Austen Rodgers fell on it for the Cards and the offense started at the SCC 48.
The Cardinals drove to the Titan 19, but a pass incompletion on 4th down turned the ball back over to SCC with 1:34 to go. The Titans ran 4 plays to end the 1st half.
Both defenses got the best of the offenses in the 2nd half. The first five possessions, three by Earlham and two by SCC, ended in punts. The Titans pushed the ball deep into Cardinal territory in the 4th quarter, but Earlham stopped them on a 4th down run and took over at their own 25 with 7:48 left in the game.
But the Cards went backwards. Attempting to pass, Reynolds was sacked for a 10-yard loss on 2nd down. After an incomplete pass, the Cards punted.
The Titans had a good return, and they were in business at the Earlham 21. They scored a touchdown 4 plays later, but the 2-pointer was no good.
The Cardinals started their next possession at their own 31. After 6 plays and an SCC penalty, the Cards had the ball on the Titan 41. On 3rd down, Reynolds was sacked again—and this time he fumbled. SCC recovered at their own 46 with just 2:31 left on the clock.
The Cards forced the Titans to punt, and with 1:30 to go, they had the ball on their own 23. On 1st down, Reynolds was pressured hard again, and he threw an interception that all but ended the game.
Near the top of Coach Caskey’s to-do list next week may be to shore up pass protection, which was a problem for the Cardinals in the 2nd half.
“The linemen try to help somebody out and somebody slips by, and I think that’s an issue,” said the coach. “The backs also need to help in pass protection. I need to watch the film, but I think we just missed some blocks.”
The Cardinals play Martensdale-St. Marys at home Friday. The Blue Devils defeated Highland, 13-0, in week 1.
Cross Country
The first meet of the season is a good way for athletes to shake the rust off, get used to competition again, and have a little fun. Cardinal junior David Nichols did all those things at the Dragon Invitational in Johnston last Saturday, but he also broke the school record with a time of 15:56.
Running with a fast field on a cool morning, Nichols took advantage of the favorable conditions. He ran toward the front early, separated from the pack later in the race with a handful of other runners, and outkicked everybody but Johnston’s Jack Crossland, who finished in 15:42. Crossland finished 6th at the state meet last season in Class 4A.
The previous Earlham cross country record was 15:58, set by Jayden Dickson at the Gilbert Invitational in 2021.
Nichols’ performance helped the Cards to finish 6th in the 11-team meet that featured mostly 4A and 3A schools. Donovan Braet was the second Cardinal finisher, followed by Dawson Braet, Landon Sheffield, and Andrew Van Zee, to round out the scoring.
Amanda Smith paced the Cardinal girls with a PR time of 19:50, good for 12th overall. Mackenzie Harger was next, followed by Kinsley Canoyer, Shea Rodgers, and Lilah Aubert.
Johnston won both the boys’ and girls’ meets.
Volleyball
The Cardinals opened the 2025 season by blanking Panorama, 3-0 (25-11, 26-24, 25-17), in front of a big, noisy crowd in Earlham on August 26.
The Cards had no problem with the Panthers in the 1st set, but Panorama jumped out to the lead in the 2nd. Coach Harskamp called a timeout with her team down,14-9, and the Cards got going after that. They tied the set at 17, and after that the score was tied at 18, and then 20. After kills by Ally Presler, Ava Harris, and Eden Forcht, the Cards were a point away from victory. But the Panthers rallied to tie the score at 24. The Cards won after the Panthers hit a ball into the net, and then hit a ball out of bounds.
The Panther kept the 3rd set close at first, trailing, 14-11, but the Cards pulled away after that. Piper Koberg delivered an emphatic spike for a kill to put the Cards ahead, 19-13. Kills by Harris and Kenna Harskamp got the Cards to 22. After a clever soft serve by Koberg for an ace and a kill by Forcht, the Cards were at match point. A Panther error sealed the win for Earlham. Harskamp had 15 assists and Harris had 9. Forcht had 8 kills and Koberg had 7.
Earlham Echo 
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