The Triad Cardinals were able to right the ship in Week Two of the football season when they turned in an offensive showcase against the Ridgemont Golden Gopher, beating them 60-30 on Friday.
First-year head coach Zach Winslow said it feels good to get the first win in the books.
“It felt good to get the monkey off my back and get the W,” he said.
The Cardinals got started in a hurry, turning in 14 points in the opening quarter.
The balanced attack started with a Jacob Jenkins run from two-yards out and followed with a 76-yard pass from Jordan Simonelli to Logan McCoy to pick up their second TD in the quarter.
Winslow said the Cards found success with a two-pronged attack.
“We were able to do both,” he said. “We had a couple of good runs and had some sustained drives. We took some shots to get behind them and did some damage.”
In the second quarter, the Cards opened up their offense with a Coleman Hauck scamper for 40 yards on his way to the end zone.
Simonelli dropped back for another TD bomb for a 63-yard pass, while Hauck made a return trip to the end zone to put the Cardinals up 38-8 at the half.
Winslow said his team found offensive success because of a strong ground presence that allowed it to open up the pass.
“I think when you establish the ability to run the ball, it makes moving the ball a lot easier,” he said. “It makes those secondary guys play a little flat and not so quick to their pass drops.
“I think our offensive line helped set the tone as far as being committed to establishing the run.”
Simonelli got to the end zone with his feet in the third quarter, while Jenkins found the end zone for the second time.
Freshmen Jackson Cordell got some touches late in the game and turned one of his opportunities into six points for Triad.
That gave Triad a solid 52-14 lead going into the final stanza.
Jenkins added a late TD to help Triad pick up its first win of the season.
Triad will travel to Madison-Plains on Friday.
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