BRODHEAD - On senior night, the Cardinals knew they had one thing to do - win. A win meant a 7-2 record to close out the regular season, and would all but guarantee a home game in the first round of the football playoffs.
Brodhead-Juda did just that Thursday in convincing fashion - a 45-8 blowout in the cold rain over Orfordville Parkview.
"Defensively, offensively, special teams - everything was rolling tonight," Cardinals head coach Jim Matthys said. "And that's what we want."
Brodhead got on the board early, with running back Vinny Mazzarisi scampering into the endzone from 53 yards away.
On Brodhead's next possession, quarterback Beau Benner ran across midfield and down the sidelines to the endzone on a bootleg sweep. However, a down-field penalty for a block in the back negated the score. Moments later, Mazzarisi scored again - this time from 32 yards out.
"I think we came out and established the run like we wanted to. It's been a couple of weeks since we last felt good about our offense, and I think we did that tonight," Matthys said.
Leading 12-0 after the first, Brodhead was positioning for another big drive. After a punt was downed at the 4-yard line, the Cardinals worked their way out. Benner ran another bootleg on 3rd-and-9 for 34 yards to the 39-yard line.
Three plays later, Brodhead stalled at its own 42. On fourth down with just about a foot to go, Benner dropped the slippery pigskin on the snap, picked it up, and sprinted to his left until he crossed the endzone for a score.
Brodhead's defense, which held Parkview to a negative 7 yards in the first half, shut the Vikings down again in just three plays. On the ensuing punt, the Parkview punter could maintain control of the Vaseline ball and fumbled. Brodhead took over from the Vikings' 32 and continued rolling.
Ethan Douglas plowed his way for an 11-yard gain on first down. Benner then hit Dan Douglas for Brodhead's only reception for five yards. Ethan Douglas took the ball the rest of the way for the Cardinals' fourth score. Benner then hit Dan Douglas in the endzone for the two-point conversion and a 26-0 lead with just under six minutes to play in the half.
Brodhead's "D" got the ball right back, and the offense continued to roll. On eight plays, the Cardinals pounded the ball 73 yards down the field, with Mazzarisi capping the drive with a 4-yard run with 43 seconds left before half-time.
Brodhead got the ball to start the second half, needing only one more score to secure a running clock the rest of the night. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Jim Lewis returned the ball 80 yards for the score and celebrated the score (and his birthday) in the endzone with his teammates.
Later in the quarter, Benner scored again on another 58-yard run.
"We had a couple sloppy plays, but we played well overall. It's one of those things - it's raining, but it's raining on both sides of the ball. They have the same issues as we had," Matthys said. "We did what we had to do. Seniors had a great night and we won convincingly."
Parkview got its only score in the final minute of the game against Brodhead's backups.
Benner led the Cardinals with 161 rushing yards on just four carries. Mazzarisi collected 126 yards on just eight carries, and Ethan Douglas pounded out 87 yards on 17 carries for Brodhead. The Cardinals collected 403 total yards on 39 plays, while holding Parkview to 128 yards on 44 plays - much coming via the pass in the game's final minutes.
"We got a lot of special teams things going, plus our offense did a nice job and our defense did a heck of a job shutting them down," Matthys said. "We got things going and now have some momentum going into Tuesday."
Brodhead will now wait until lunchtime today to find out who their first opponent will be in the playoffs.
"Every week we want to get better, and have. That's something this coaching staff has stressed. Even losing a couple weeks, we still got better," Matthys said. "These kids are ready to go and are 100 percent. We're ready for playoffs."
Brodhead-Juda did just that Thursday in convincing fashion - a 45-8 blowout in the cold rain over Orfordville Parkview.
"Defensively, offensively, special teams - everything was rolling tonight," Cardinals head coach Jim Matthys said. "And that's what we want."
Brodhead got on the board early, with running back Vinny Mazzarisi scampering into the endzone from 53 yards away.
On Brodhead's next possession, quarterback Beau Benner ran across midfield and down the sidelines to the endzone on a bootleg sweep. However, a down-field penalty for a block in the back negated the score. Moments later, Mazzarisi scored again - this time from 32 yards out.
"I think we came out and established the run like we wanted to. It's been a couple of weeks since we last felt good about our offense, and I think we did that tonight," Matthys said.
Leading 12-0 after the first, Brodhead was positioning for another big drive. After a punt was downed at the 4-yard line, the Cardinals worked their way out. Benner ran another bootleg on 3rd-and-9 for 34 yards to the 39-yard line.
Three plays later, Brodhead stalled at its own 42. On fourth down with just about a foot to go, Benner dropped the slippery pigskin on the snap, picked it up, and sprinted to his left until he crossed the endzone for a score.
Brodhead's defense, which held Parkview to a negative 7 yards in the first half, shut the Vikings down again in just three plays. On the ensuing punt, the Parkview punter could maintain control of the Vaseline ball and fumbled. Brodhead took over from the Vikings' 32 and continued rolling.
Ethan Douglas plowed his way for an 11-yard gain on first down. Benner then hit Dan Douglas for Brodhead's only reception for five yards. Ethan Douglas took the ball the rest of the way for the Cardinals' fourth score. Benner then hit Dan Douglas in the endzone for the two-point conversion and a 26-0 lead with just under six minutes to play in the half.
Brodhead's "D" got the ball right back, and the offense continued to roll. On eight plays, the Cardinals pounded the ball 73 yards down the field, with Mazzarisi capping the drive with a 4-yard run with 43 seconds left before half-time.
Brodhead got the ball to start the second half, needing only one more score to secure a running clock the rest of the night. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Jim Lewis returned the ball 80 yards for the score and celebrated the score (and his birthday) in the endzone with his teammates.
Later in the quarter, Benner scored again on another 58-yard run.
"We had a couple sloppy plays, but we played well overall. It's one of those things - it's raining, but it's raining on both sides of the ball. They have the same issues as we had," Matthys said. "We did what we had to do. Seniors had a great night and we won convincingly."
Parkview got its only score in the final minute of the game against Brodhead's backups.
Benner led the Cardinals with 161 rushing yards on just four carries. Mazzarisi collected 126 yards on just eight carries, and Ethan Douglas pounded out 87 yards on 17 carries for Brodhead. The Cardinals collected 403 total yards on 39 plays, while holding Parkview to 128 yards on 44 plays - much coming via the pass in the game's final minutes.
"We got a lot of special teams things going, plus our offense did a nice job and our defense did a heck of a job shutting them down," Matthys said. "We got things going and now have some momentum going into Tuesday."
Brodhead will now wait until lunchtime today to find out who their first opponent will be in the playoffs.
"Every week we want to get better, and have. That's something this coaching staff has stressed. Even losing a couple weeks, we still got better," Matthys said. "These kids are ready to go and are 100 percent. We're ready for playoffs."
