By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Ell-Saline Cardinals may have had the toughest schedule in the state coming into the 2021 football season.
Despite being undersized and down on numbers, the team has rallied to an impressive 2-2 start, highlighted by a 20-14 overtime win over Oakley and a 35-14 blowout of Sacred Heart.
“I really enjoy watching our kids get better,” Cardinals head coach Joe Roche said. “Even though we lost to Plainville we looked a lot better than we did at the beginning of the season. We’re doing things the right way and that’s got the kids ready to come to work every day.”
Tight-end turned quarterback Kade Wilson has looked solid in his first season under center. The junior leads the team in both passing and rushing yards and has accounted for six of the team’s eight touchdowns on offense.
Wilson is completing an impressive 60% of his passes, but turnovers have been an issue as the junior has been picked off six times in four games.
“We need to protect our quarterback,” Roche said. “If we don’t do that we can’t throw the ball well. We also need to move the ball on the ground better so we can open up our passing game.”
That balance won’t be easy to find as the toughest part of Ell-Saline’s schedule stands on deck in what could be the toughest stretch faced by any team in the state season.
This week, Ell-Saline travels to Sedgewick to take on the #4 ranked Cardinals who are fresh off a 62-0 win over Stanton County.
Next week the team will stay on the road to take on #3 Inman before returning home to face #2 Smith Center.
Those three opponents have combined for a record of 12-0 in games with a combined score of 664-41
Despite the brutal schedule, Coach Roche is optimistic that his rag-tag group can stay competitive if they can stay on the field throughout.
“We have to stay healthy because we have low roster numbers,” he said. “We play some teams with twice the number of kids on their roster but if we can battle and give ourselves a chance to win a game in the fourth quarter that’s all I can ask of these guys.”
After that stretch, the Cardinals will finish out their season with 0-4 Ellinwood ahead of the 2021 playoffs.
Despite many counting them out, Ell-Saline is primed to surprise some people down the stretch if they can keep their stars on the field.
“We’re very happy with the production that we’ve gotten out of this team,” Roche said. “We’re undersized and we lack roster numbers but our kids play so hard and you’re going to have to earn every yard you get against us.”
For continuing coverage of the Ell-Saline football team in 2021 stay tuned to the Salina Post.