Anyone who wanted to see why Annandale is undefeated after three games of the high school football season only had to watch the first half of the game Friday, Sept. 15 at Cardinal Stadium.
The Cardinals scored 34 points in the first half, while the powerful defense pitched a shutout, en route to a 34-14 victory over the Foley Falcons.
Senior running back Reed Rasset led the way Friday, scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 179 yards on only eight carries.
The Cards are now 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the East Central South District.
Foley tired easily
Foley came into the game 0-2, having lost to Zimmerman and Glencoe-Silver Lake, both considered to be good teams.
"Watching Foley on film last week I could see they were very competitive until the fourth quarter," said Cardinal Head Coach Matt Walter. "In those two games you could see they got tired late in the game, leading to mistakes and points."
The Cardinal coaches told the players to make the Falcons work early in the game so they would get tired as the game wore on.
"Foley does not have a lot of depth in the lineup," Walter said. "Most of their starters play on both sides of the ball."
It did not take long for the Cardinals to wear the Falcons down and deflate their confidence.
Annandale scored on its first drive of the game, with quarterback Peyton Fobbe finding Nick Bieniek for a 15-yard TD.
"Our line did a great job of getting off the ball and staying on their blocks," Walter said. "The running backs and wide receivers all picked up blocks."
With 6:04 left in the first quarter, Fobbe ran untouched 61 yards to make it 12-0. He had only the safety to beat, and the safety didn’t lay a finger on him. Fobbe cut back and outran the pursuit to the end zone.
"Peyton is unbelievable one-on-one in the hole against a defender," the coach said. "He has great vision and gets the defense off-balance, causing defenders to run right by him."
Blocking has improved
A big improvement Walter has seen on this year’s team is the ability to come through with some good blocks downfield.
"Last year we were not physical enough blocking downfield," Walter said. "You can’t have long runs without players downfield picking up blocks."
He praised receivers Nick Bieniek, Leo Healy, Cam Howard and Boyd Rassatt for being more physical in the running game this year.
"Blocking leads to big plays and it’s contagious," Walter said. "When the players see a nice block from one of their teammates, they all want to get into the action."
This year the coaches have been giving out a black practice jersey for the best blocker in the previous game. The first two games saw Nick Harvey and Thomas Johnson earn the jersey for the week. It is not yet know who will get the black jersey for blocking in the Foley game.
"Nick Bieniek keeps lobbying for the jersey. He wants it pretty bad," Walter said. "That’s what I really like about this team. They are excited for each other when plays are made and they are willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful."
The coaches still give out the Honey Badger award each week for a defensive player. That award gets its name from Tyrann Mathieu, an Arizona Cardinal safety known as the Honey Badger. He’s known for his tenacious ability to play extremely tough football against much larger opponents and his ability to make big plays.
The coaches bought a yellow practice jersey (Mathieu played college at LSU where the school colors are yellow and purple) and had ‘Honey Badger’ printed in purple on the back.
The winner wears the yellow jersey all week at practice. The jersey is collected on Thursday, gets washed and is ready for the next winner.
Walker Weege was the Honey Badger for outstanding performances in the first two games of the season, including three interceptions against Albany.
Rasset leads way
It was another great game for Rasset. He had three touchdown runs of 85, 49 and 24 yards in the first half of the Foley game. He averaged an astounding 22.4 yards per carry, with 179 yards on eight carries.
"If Reed can get through the hole at full speed, the defense is in trouble," Walter said. "Reed is able to use his stiff arm to push would-be tacklers to the ground, without losing speed while running."
With three games under his belt, Rasset has 39 carries for 420 yards and six touchdowns.
Helget stars on defense
The Cardinal defense limited the Falcons to only allowed 35 rushing yards on 23 carries in the first half. Walter gives a great deal of credit to Jackson Helget for the outstanding job the Cardinal defense has done the first three games.
"If Reed Rasset stole the show on offense, then the must-see attraction on defense was Jackson Helget," Walter said. "Jackson has been playing at a high level all season and he was even better on Friday night."
Helget made six solo tackles, assisted on 13 more, and had a quarterback sack
"It was a great game from our leader on defense," said Defensive Coach Mark Koval.
"He’s such a tough, physical player on the field and his desire to throw his body into the mix sets him apart," Walter said. "He wants to make every tackle on every play."
The entire defensive unit played well, tackling well and not giving up big plays.
"Teams have to work really hard to score on us," Walter said.
In the first half the Cardinal offense turned the ball over at their own 30-yard line. Still, Annandale’s defense did not allow the Falcons to score.
"Those stops are huge and you could see Foley’s confidence deflate after that stop," Walter said.
In addition to great play by the offense and defense, the Cardinal kick return unit had another awesome week, including a 50-yard punt return by Cam Howard in the first quarter.
"We have so many units playing well right now, it makes it fun," Walter said.
More playing time
With a 34-0 lead at the half, Walter put players into the game that otherwise don’t see much playing time.
"This was great for us," he said. "We are really trying to build depth at every position."
Some players get injured and others need breaks during a game. Having players ready to go on the sidelines who are capable of filling in for the starters is a luxury for most teams.
"We knew Foley would be playing their starters in the second half, so it was a great chance to see some our sophomores and juniors against their starters," Walter said. "We want competition every day, whether it’s at practice or in a game. That’s the only way you improve as a player."
Unsportsmanlike calls
The Cardinals were whistled for three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the first half.
"We need to clean up the turnovers and penalties," Walter said. "Those are going to come back and bite us if we continue this trend."
Rules have changed in high school football that are meant to limit unnecessary contact.
"I love the fact that we are being aggressive, but we aren’t being very smart right now," Walter said. "We spent a lot of time dealing with this at practice last week, and we are going to re-address it again this week.
"The referees are doing a great job of limiting the unnecessary contact in football. We have to learn to adjust to the new rules, and we will."
One aspect of the game the team will also be working on this week is improving its kickoffs.
"Each week is a new challenge and we always have things to work on," Walter said.
Statistics
Annandale 20 14 0 0 – 34
Foley 0 0 7 7 – 14
First quarter
A – Bieniek 15 yard pass from Fobbe (kick blocked) 8:28
A – Fobbe 61 yard run (Rassatt run) 6:04
A- Rasset 86 yard run (Meidinger kick) :35
Second quarter
A – Rasset 49 yard run (Meidinger kick) 10:52
A – Rasset 24 yard run (Meidinger kick) 5:42
Third quarter
F – TD (kick good)
Fourth quarter
F – 56 yard TD (kick good) 7:31
Total offense
Annandale: 36 carries for 330 yards and 76 passing yards = 406 total yards
Foley: 38 carries for 111 yards and 113 passing yards = 224 total yards
Cardinal individual offense statistics
Passing: Fobbe 4-6 for 76 yards; 1 TD, 1, 2 interceptions; Purcell 0-2 yards, 1 interception.
Receiving: Healy 1-36 yards, Bieniek 2-30 yards, 1 TD, Rassatt 1-10
Rushing: Rasset 8-179 yards 3 TD, Fobbe 5-74 yards, 1 TD; Picka- 8-35 yards, C. Helget 10-18 yards, McCoy 4-13, Rassatt 1-11 yards.
Cardinal individual defense statistics
Tackles: J. Helget 19 Healy 5, Weege 7, Howard 4, McCoy 5, Gapinski 2, Karter Pastian 6, Jones 8, Kolbe Pastian 8, Jacobson 3, Luna 3, Patch 4, Moe 2
Interceptions: Healy 1.
Sacks: J. Helget 1, Gapinski 2, Jacobson 2, Moe 1
Fumble Recovery: Jordan Picka 1
Up next
■ Friday, Sept. 22 the Cardinals head to Litchfield for a 7 p.m. game against the Dragons.
This will be the third year of the ‘Battle for the Paddle,’ a trophy game played each year between the two schools. The winner of the game gets to keep the paddle in their school’s trophy case for a year. Litchfield has yet to win it.
The Cardinals have defeated the Dragons each time they met in the past five seasons.
Last year the Cards defeated the Dragons 41-34, winning on a Bieniek touchdown with only 18 seconds showing on the clock.
The Dragons are 1-2 for the season. They won their opening game against St. Cloud Cathedral 25-0, but in the two weeks following have lost to Holy Family 17-14 and Dassel-Cokato 28-20.
"It will be a really tough game against Litchfield," Walter said. "It is their homecoming and their team will be hungry for a win."
A rivalry has developed over the years between the two teams, who always compete very hard against each other.
"The Dragons have one of the best running backs in the conference," Walter said. "He has been a starter since ninth grade and just keeps getting better every year."