CARDINALS at Pomeroy Jamboree

WAITSBURG — Coach Gabe Kiefel’s Waitsburg High School football team worked out some kinks in a jamboree at Pomeroy on Friday, August 30.

“It went well, and every player who went was able to do good things on the field, including the freshmen who went in at the end,” said Kiefel.

The Cardinals played ten plays each on defense against Garfield-Palouse and Touchet and ten plays each on offense against Liberty-Christian and Pomeroy.

The team held Garl-Pal to one touchdown and did really well against Touchet, holding them scoreless.

On offense, the Cardinals had trouble making much happen against Liberty-Christian who had a blitzing linebacker. Even though the Cardinals did not score, they had some positive yards. The team looked better against Pomeroy.  Waitsburg scored on the first drive with a pass play from Isa Reyes to Jayton Gleason.

“We were missing a big chunk of our starting players due to the Walla Walla County Fair, family trips, health and eligibility.  I think we will do much better with our full squad,” said Kiefel.

There were stand-out performances by Lucas VanHoose at running back, Jared Hankins at defensive end, Tucker Hamilton at linebacker, and Jackson Karl at linebacker.  

The team showed resilience that Coach Kiefel hopes they will not have to depend on for the regular season.

The Cardinals’ first game of the season will be at Desales on September 5.