BRODHEAD - Friday was Gavin Garrett's night to shine.
The Brodhead-Juda sophomore fullback was shining very bright, scoring five touchdowns to lead the Cardinals to an easy 41-21 football win over Cuba City.
The Cardinals' fullbacks' playing time is rotated, but once Garrett got started Friday, the coaching staff wisely kept giving him the ball.
"This was my best night of football," he smiled after finishing his fourth touchdown run. "But we have a great line."
Offensive line coach and former head coach Gary Larsen said the coaches challenged offensive linemen at halftime to show they could dominate the line of scrimmage, and they responded.
But Larsen also credited Garrett.
"He punched some holes in their (defensive) line," Larsen said. "He just kept going north and south all night."
Garrett and the Cardinals punched the game open in the second half.
Garrett scored on touchdown runs of 2, 11, 42, 32 and 54 yards, helping Brodhead-Juda break a 7-7 tie in the second quarter, then pull away from a 15-14 second-half lead. He finished with 188 yards on 14 carries.
Senior Brayden Fritsch, who gained 176 yards on 19 carries, got the Cardinals on the board first in the first quarter with a 59-yard run. The Cardinals kept the 7-0 lead until late in the second quarter, when Cuba City's Justin Alt intercepted a David Earleywine pass deep in Cardinal territory and took it to the Brodhead-Juda 7-yard line.
The Cubans took about two minutes to score as senior quarterback Tanner Oglesby, who was 13-for-31 for 204 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Alt in the end zone. The extra point tied the score.
There still were more than three minutes until halftime, and Brodhead-Juda didn't let the time go to waste.
The Cardinals didn't have to rely on the pass to move them down the field. Instead, they picked up big yards with almost every run.
Brodhead-Juda retook the lead with about 30 seconds left with Garrett's first score. Ethan Douglas' two-point conversion put Brodhead-Juda ahead 15-7 at halftime.
The Cubans took advantage of another Brodhead-Juda mistake to begin the second half. A good kickoff return gave Cuba City a first down at the Cardinals' 13. Oglesby threw his second touchdown pass of the night four plays later, and the extra point made it a one-point game.
That's when Brodhead-Juda began to run the ball up the middle and around the ends to pick up big yardage and keep the Cubans on their heels.
Fritsch and Garrett moved the ball almost at will against Cuba City, and Garrett finished off an 80-yard drive with an 11-yard run.
After trading punts throughout the third quarter and early fourth quarter, Brodhead put together a 58-yard scoring drive capped off by Garrett's 42-yard score.
An Oglesby interception gave the Cardinals another chance to widen the lead and they did, relying on Garrett again and cheering as he took the ball 32 yards around the left side of the line for another score.
It took Garrett just one more carry to score his fifth touchdown, as he took the ball at the Brodhead-Juda 46 and raced his way to another touchdown.
Cuba City relied on the pass to take the ball 65 yards down the field for its third and final score. John Frederick led the Cubans with 91 receiving yards on three catches.
The Brodhead-Juda sophomore fullback was shining very bright, scoring five touchdowns to lead the Cardinals to an easy 41-21 football win over Cuba City.
The Cardinals' fullbacks' playing time is rotated, but once Garrett got started Friday, the coaching staff wisely kept giving him the ball.
"This was my best night of football," he smiled after finishing his fourth touchdown run. "But we have a great line."
Offensive line coach and former head coach Gary Larsen said the coaches challenged offensive linemen at halftime to show they could dominate the line of scrimmage, and they responded.
But Larsen also credited Garrett.
"He punched some holes in their (defensive) line," Larsen said. "He just kept going north and south all night."
Garrett and the Cardinals punched the game open in the second half.
Garrett scored on touchdown runs of 2, 11, 42, 32 and 54 yards, helping Brodhead-Juda break a 7-7 tie in the second quarter, then pull away from a 15-14 second-half lead. He finished with 188 yards on 14 carries.
Senior Brayden Fritsch, who gained 176 yards on 19 carries, got the Cardinals on the board first in the first quarter with a 59-yard run. The Cardinals kept the 7-0 lead until late in the second quarter, when Cuba City's Justin Alt intercepted a David Earleywine pass deep in Cardinal territory and took it to the Brodhead-Juda 7-yard line.
The Cubans took about two minutes to score as senior quarterback Tanner Oglesby, who was 13-for-31 for 204 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Alt in the end zone. The extra point tied the score.
There still were more than three minutes until halftime, and Brodhead-Juda didn't let the time go to waste.
The Cardinals didn't have to rely on the pass to move them down the field. Instead, they picked up big yards with almost every run.
Brodhead-Juda retook the lead with about 30 seconds left with Garrett's first score. Ethan Douglas' two-point conversion put Brodhead-Juda ahead 15-7 at halftime.
The Cubans took advantage of another Brodhead-Juda mistake to begin the second half. A good kickoff return gave Cuba City a first down at the Cardinals' 13. Oglesby threw his second touchdown pass of the night four plays later, and the extra point made it a one-point game.
That's when Brodhead-Juda began to run the ball up the middle and around the ends to pick up big yardage and keep the Cubans on their heels.
Fritsch and Garrett moved the ball almost at will against Cuba City, and Garrett finished off an 80-yard drive with an 11-yard run.
After trading punts throughout the third quarter and early fourth quarter, Brodhead put together a 58-yard scoring drive capped off by Garrett's 42-yard score.
An Oglesby interception gave the Cardinals another chance to widen the lead and they did, relying on Garrett again and cheering as he took the ball 32 yards around the left side of the line for another score.
It took Garrett just one more carry to score his fifth touchdown, as he took the ball at the Brodhead-Juda 46 and raced his way to another touchdown.
Cuba City relied on the pass to take the ball 65 yards down the field for its third and final score. John Frederick led the Cubans with 91 receiving yards on three catches.
