The Triad Cardinals are a team that is playing its final week of the 2018 football season for the love of the game.
The Cardinals find themselves near the bottom of the list of the Ohio Heritage Conference and have been mathematically eliminated from a playoff spot. Despite having no possibility of a post season or conference title, head coach Joe Cardinal said it has been a successful season with a 5-4 record heading into tonight’s home game against West Jefferson.
“I view the season as a success,” Cardinal said. “ Playing against schools our size (Division 7), we went 4-0 and outscored them, 205-68.
“We also had a running back break the all-time single-season rushing record (Dylan Rice-more than 1,400 yards) and we are currently only 55 points away from breaking the school’s all-time average points per game scoring record.”
Even with the positives, the Cardinals will face a 7-2 West Jefferson squad to finish their season. The Rough Riders are second in the OHC North behind Mechanicsburg.
With rain in the forecast, Cardinal said Triad is excited to play the Rough Riders, a run- heavy team.
“Turnovers may play a crucial role in tonight’s game,” said Cardinal. “As a D-7 school, we are excited to compete against a D-5 school and our seniors are ready.”
WJ’s heavy run game will come from Gabe Jones, who is currently second in the league with 1,041 yards. Cardinal said that in order to slow him down, Triad will need to control the line of scrimmage.
“They are a run-oriented team with a lot of size up front,” he said. “Their back runs the ball very well and does a great job of finding the open crease.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Rough Riders are large as well. That size can pose problems for Triad’s conference-leading rusher, Rice.
“They are an even front with a very large defensive line and a linebacking group and secondary that tackle very well,” Cardinal said. “Dylan is going to have to have great vision tonight and our wide outs are going to have to run crisp routes as well.”
With a season that has seen the Cardinals increase their record from previous year’s, Cardinal believes a win would do wonders for his off-season.
He is losing a lot of leadership, but gains experience in return.
“We’ll lose 12 seniors, but we expect our freshmen football class next year to have 15, so we should have a roster of around 45 next year,” Cardinal said. “Our junior varsity team went undefeated and we’ll be counting on a few of those guys to be varsity players next year.
“Defensively we’ll lose three starters on the D-line and two linebackers,” he said. “However, our secondary – minus Austin Bails – will return. We’ve been able to play quite a few guys in our defensive rotations, so I feel pretty confident about the 2019 defense going into the off-season.”