Cardinal FB Wins Crossover Game

WAITSBURG — The Waitsburg Cardinals prevailed 54-24 in a hard-fought football game against Sunnyside Christian on Friday, November 1.

Starting quarterback Isa Reyes was out due to a concussion and JJ Gleason stepped up to take on the leadership role.

The first quarter flew by, with Sunnyside scoring one touchdown to take a 6-0 lead. Sunnyside scored early in the second quarter, followed by Gleason returning the kickoff for an 85-yard touchdown. Brenton Segraves scored the 2-point conversion, making the score 12-8.

 After a few back-to-back goal-line stands by both teams, Koyen Fortune recovered a fumble on the 10-yard line. In the next play, Segraves ran the ball for a 90-yard touchdown, followed by Gleason’s 2-point conversion. This was a momentum shift the team needed. Gleason later ran 19 yards for a TD off a scramble and followed with a quarterback sneak to score the conversion. Sunnyside ended the first half with a touchdown.  As Waitsburg scored conversions after each touchdown and Sunnyside did not score on any conversions, the score was tied at halftime 24-24.

The Cardinal defense ramped up in the second half, keeping Sunnyside scoreless. Tucker Hamilton led the team with 14 tackles, and Jarod Hankins, Martin Vasquez, and Victor Whitmore had 12 tackles. Gleason and Segraves had nine tackles each.  Gleason and Hankins each had an interception, and Will Ahler, Segraves, and Whitmore each had one quarterback sack.

Offensively, in the second half, the Cardinals scored four touchdowns, including a 19-and a 44-yard run by Gleason, a 25-yard run by Fortune, and a 40-yard pick 6 by Hankins. The team scored conversions on three of those touchdowns.

With the win, the Cardinals take the #5 seed in the Wheat/Grape division and will play Inchelium High School, who finished 4th in the NE-1B district, on Saturday, November 9 at 3 p.m.

Inchelium is 7-2 overall this season, only losing to Wilbur-Creston and Eniat.

“This will be a challenge, but it should be a winnable game. The winner of this game advances to the State playoff, and the loser is out,” said Coach Kiefel.