By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Every time the Ell-Saline Cardinals and Little River Redskins meet on the gridiron, the potential exists for an instant classic, and Friday night was no exception.
Despite trailing by 14 points at the intermission and looking completely baffled on offense, the Cards rallied twice in the second half to come back and steal a 22-20 upset victory over Little River, handing the 2nd-ranked Redskins their first loss of the season.
Little River dominated the first half of this game, holding Ell-Saline without a single completion and limiting the high-powered Cardinal unit to just 59 yards of total offense.
Jaren Garrison got the Redskins started with a nine-yard touchdown run before Jhet Ewertt doubled the lead on a 34-yard touchdown scamper to give Little River a 14-0 lead at the break.
Second-half adjustments were on display right away for the Cardinals, who marched down the field on their first drive of the third quarter and punched in a two-yard Kas Kramer touchdown run.
If anyone needed reminding that Kramer is a two-way stud, he reinforced that quickly, ending a promising Little River drive with a fourth-quarter interception.
The Cards capitalized on the short field, returning to the wildcat formation where Kramer beat the entire Redskin defense to the edge for his second score of the day, tacking on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14.
Little River didn’t waste time reclaiming the lead as Jaxson Konen delivered a QB sneak for six, but the Cardinal defense stopped the two-point try to limit the lead to six points.
Ell-Saline failed to score on their ensuing drive, but forced a three-and-out to give the offense one final shot at a game-winning drive.
On the Little River four with the game on the line, Joe Roche reached into his bag of tricks.
Reese Krone pitched an outside toss to Kas Kramer, who immediately looked downfield and delivered a perfect pass to a wide-open Collin Dent for the game-tying touchdown.
Needing a two-point conversion for the lead, the Cardinals lined Kramer up in the wildcat again, but handed the ball off to Jaxsen Seed who took a jet sweep to the pylon to deliver Ell-Saline their first lead of the game 22-20.
Little River had 33 seconds to try and answer, but after hauling in the game-tying touchdown, Collin Dent plucked an overthrown pass out of the air in the end zone for a game-icing interception.
Kramer ended his evening with 14 carries for 61 yards, two rushing touchdowns, a game-tying passing touchdown, and a crucial interception.
Dent hauled in four critical passes for 56 yards, the game-tying score and the game-sealing interception.
With this win, the Cardinals improve to 4-1, and have a sturdy case to be ranked in 8-Man Division I next week.
The Redskins, meanwhile, accept their first loss of the season at 4-1.
Ell-Saline will travel to Central Plains next week while Little River makes the trek to Goessel.
You can watch the full broadcast of this game on demand any time below.