Badgers chew the wings off the Cardinals
When the Medical Lake JV football team came to town Thursday night, they quickly found out that they had flown into a choctawdoc@gmail.comden full of Badgers with attitudes.
At the final gun the score board read Badgers 35-Medical Lake 6.
From the kickoff, the Badger defense swarmed the Cardinals backfield and allowed less than one yard on the first four Medical Lake possessions.
The potent Blue Doom defense was led again this week by the explosive play of Badger Linebacker Ben Neumeyer who tallied six solo tackles and seven assists. Anthony Skeen contributed to the dismantling with three unassisted, and six assisted tackles. It was, however, the unified play of the defense as a whole that bought cheers from the Badger faithful, as well as bringing them to their feet on many plays. It was not uncommon to see six or seven blue jerseys smother the Cardinal ball carriers on each play. The resounding cracks of full speed tackles, and loud popping of the pads of the D- line gave testimony to the intensity the Blue Pride brought into this contest and was the primary reason the Cards were held to just 97 total yards for the game.
The excitement was not limited to the defensive side of the ball. The Badger offense also produced and directed a great show for the Bonners Ferry fans. With the superb O-line clearing a highway for the Badger runners, the offense amassed 261 yards rushing, and 58 yards in the air.
Much of the credit for the ground game must be attributed to the offensive line who continued to push the Badger running backs for five to six more yards after it appeared the play would stall. Skeen was a work horse again this week on offense and carried the ball 16 times for 81 yards and three touchdowns. Besides being the main blocking back Neumeyer also carried for 36 yards and one TD . It was however, the exciting play of Badger Tailback Ethan Racer that should be in the highlight films this week.
At 10 yards per carry, Racer snaked through the Cards defense for a season high 152 yards rushing. The Blue Pride T-Back carried the ball 15 times with solid runs throughout the game in the five to ten yard range. Then, in the third period Racer lit the fuse. On second down with the ball on the Badger 37, QB Connor Bennett handed off to Racer out of a split back formation.
The speedy Tailback broke off right tackle and with five Cardinals in pursuit went the distance for 63 yards and six points. In the air war Bennett threw three times with two completions and one interception. The Badgers had 45 yards in penalties, two of which resulted in Badger touchdowns being called back. There will be no need for a late fall migration of the flock as the Blue Pride determinedly grabbed the Cardinals by the tail feathers and threw them back south for the winter.
The Badger JV are now 3-1 on the season and travel to Coeur D’Alene to play at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29 for a gridiron matchup. Go blue pride.