Football: Cardinals drop road tilt at Graceland 23-16
Contact: Paul Worstell, 816-415-5959
September 14, 2009
A huge start by Graceland was too much for the Jewell football team to overcome on Saturday, as the Cardinals fall to 0-2 with a loss in Lamoni, Iowa.
Graceland’s Jerome Messam, a 6-4, 245 pound running back who sat out last year, scored on an 80 yard run on the first play from scrimmage and the YellowJackets built a 17-0 lead after the first 10 minutes. After that, though, the teams played evenly through the remainder of the game.
The Cardinals scored on an explosive play of their own in the latter part of the first quarter, when junior quarterback Drew Witman hooked up with senior wide receiver Daniel Johnson on a 77-yard streak route down the right sideline to pull Jewell within 17-7. Then, in the second quarter, a bad snap on a punt attempt went over the head of the Graceland punter, and the Cardinals were down 17-9 at the half.
Both defenses dug in through the scoreless third quarter and into the fourth. Graceland was finally able to score again on a 10 yard pass, but the Cardinals came right back down the field and punched in another score when Witman hit senior Caleb Noland with a 4-yard touchdown pass with 3:55 left to pull within seven points.
The Cardinals banked on their defense being able to shut down Graceland and get the ball back for another chance offensively, but the Graceland ground game kept control during the final few minutes with three first downs, and the Jewell offense remained on the sidelines as the game ended.
Drew Witman threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals, who were only able to muster 37 yards rushing as a team, and Johnson had over 100 yards receiving. Messam finished with 225 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 25 attempts for Graceland.
The Cardinals have an open date on September 19 before hosting Evangel September 26 for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff at Greene Stadium on the Jewell Campus in Liberty, Mo.
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