Cardinals get their first HC win in a decade

Before an overflow crowd Friday night, the Annandale Cardinal football team won its first Homecoming game since 1990.
Under perfect playing conditions, the Cardinals took advantage of three Waconia turnovers, all in the second half, to win 12-0 to the delight of the hometown team.
When the game was over, Card fans remained in their seats until coach Matt Walter had the team do a “breakdown” for the crowd. For many Cardinal faithful, it was a game in which fans did not want to leave.
But it wasn’t until about halfway into the fourth quarter that the game was decided, and even then it wasn’t put away until senior Matt Paurus picked off a Matt Priess pass with just under six minutes to play that put the game on ice.
Waconia had a first and 10 at their own 31 when Priess went back to pass for a short pass intended for a tight end. Paurus was in the line of fire, making the interception and then taking it into the endzone for quick six. That sent the Cardinals and their fans into a frenzy and ultimately was the final score, 12-0.
A few minutes earlier, the Cards came up with another big play – as deep in their own territory as possibly. While they clung to a 6-0 lead, the bigger Patriots were marching down the field with short pass plays and the running of fullback Joe Gast.
Waconia faced first and goal from the Cardinal 8 with eight minutes to play. Gast took the ball over right tackle and made it into the Cardinal secondary and appeared to be running in for the score. He was met at about the 3 yard line by Ryan Carlson and Justin Triplett.
While Gast was lunging forward, trying to stretch the ball, Triplett jarred it loose and it spurted into the endzone. The fumbled occurred at about the half yard line.
The ball rolled about five yards into the endzone. A Waconia recovery would mean a touchdown. A Cardinal recovery would mean a touchback, and the Cards would take possession on the 20.
On this night, the Cardinal jerseys in the endzone outnumbered the Patriots (with all due respect to Mel Gibson) and three Cardinals pounced on the fumble.
Instead of a touchdown-scoring tie game (and potentially a leading extra point), the Cards held their 6-0 lead.
They moved the chains once before punting and killed some clock. That led to a Cardinal punt to the Waconia 31. Paurus made the interception and touchdown on the very next play. Within a matter of minutes and a half dozen plays, the Cardinals were able to breath a lot easier.
On their next possession, the Cardinals took the ball over on downs on a fourth down pass broken up by Jesse Provo. The Cards had the ball at Waconia’s 46. They went three and out and punted into the endzone.