BRODHEAD — It wasn’t always pretty, but the Brodhead-Juda Cardinals opened the 2022 football season with a solid 33-6 win over ex-Rock Valley Conference rival Edgerton on Aug. 19.
“I think we did a nice job. Obviously though it’s the first game and we made some mistakes,” said head coach Jim Matthys. “We’ve certainly got some work to do, but it’s easier to fix it after we win a game. It’s always better to get back to work after a win than with a loss. We’ve got some young kinds playing in some spots, but we’ve got some older guys that have stuff to clean up, too.”
The game started off like a movie script: Gunner Boegli intercepted a pass by Edgerton quarterback Braden Troeger on the first play from scrimmage, which set up a touchdown by Leon Saunders.
From there, the Cardinals struggled with consistency on the offensive end, as well as some missed tackles.
Benefiting the Cardinals was the lack of productive plays from the opposing sidelines. A bad snap on fourth down in the second quarter set up Brodhead-Juda at the Edgerton 40, and on the next snap Blake Matthys darted up the middle for a big 40-yard touchdown, giving the Cardinals some breathing room.
Edgerton again failed to mount a sizable offensive drive, but this time got the punt away on fourth down.
Enter Aidyn Vondra, a speedy and electrifying two-way player. Vondra took the punt at his own 38-yard line, ran to his right behind some blockers, then took off down the sideline for a punt return score, putting Brodhead-Juda up 21-0.
Vondra wasn’t done. With thunderstorms looming and flickers of lightning in the clouds to the south of the stadium, he took the opening kickoff of the second half 92 yards to the house, sending Gary Larsen Field into a frenzy.
With just 10 seconds off the clock in the third quarter, the officials on the field called for a weather delay to let the thunderstorms through and the Cardinals ahead 27-0.
For more than an hour, fans waited in side the school gym, and players attempted to both relax and stay focused in the locker rooms.
“It was good team bonding. We came together a bit,” Vondra said. “We were just in there listening to music, joking around; staying focused but also staying loose. I did it once before in my freshman year at East Troy for like an hour and a half or so.”
When play resumed nearly 75 minutes after the kickoff return for a score, one player again stood out above the rest: Aidyn Vondra.
On Edgerton’s ensuing drive, Vondra came on off the backside on a corner blitz, hitting Edgerton’s QB from behind and forcing a fumble at the Tide’s 24-yard-line. Moments later, Saunders scored for a second time. A 2-point pass was no good, and the Cardinals were up 33-0, two points short of the running clock.
“(Vondra) gave us a spark. He does some good things for us. We’ve got some other guys that can step up, too. It was Aidyn tonight and it could be somebody else next week,” coach Matthys said.
Edgerton eventually scored on the final play of the third quarter, but with 4:41 remaining, the next set of storms reached decision-making territory, and the two teams agreed to end the game early.
Blake Matthys led Brodhead-Juda with 73 yards rushing on eight carries. Saunders had 29 yards on six totes. Marcus McIntyre’s only completed pass was a screen to Blake Matthys that was snuffed out for a 7-yard loss. Edgerton out-gained the Cardinals 148-120, though the Tiders did it with 25 more plays from scrimmage.
“This was a great game and I had a lot of fun, but we have a lot of work yet to do,” Vondra said. “I’m glad we got the ‘W’, but 33-6 wasn’t my ideal final score. We can be better.”
Brodhead-Juda had a dominating run in 2021, winning 11 straight to open the season only to be stunned in Level 3 of the WIAA Division 5 playoffs. Some key players from that run graduated, but those returning — which included Vondra — wasted little time getting back into the weight room and preparing for the current campaign.
“We worked so hard in the offseason, coming out to the field nearly every day after working out,” Vondra said. “This team has a lot of potential, and we’re going to redeem ourselves
Brodhead-Juda will face another ex-conference rival in Evansville in Week 2. The Blue Devils fell at home to Reedsburg in Week 1.
