By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
In a rivalry-heavy week, two more schools separated by just 30 miles will square off in Brookville on Friday, as the Ell-Saline Cardinals (2-1) travel to take on the Bennington Bulldogs (1-2).
This will be the first matchup of district play for both teams, and could very well set the tone for the home stretch of the season.
In their inaugural 8-man campaign, the Cardinals got the victory over the Bulldogs 34-20, and will need to step up once again to have success in this renewed rivalry.
“These kids know each other and enjoy competing with one another,” Ell-Saline head coach Joe Roche said. “This will be a fun game but I want us to control our emotions, play within ourselves, and continue winning in the areas where we’ve been strong.”
For Bennington, this matchup represents an opportunity to shift their fortunes, as after winning their first game in two seasons in the opener, the Bulldogs dropped back-to-back contests against stout competition.
“Our confidence has been up and down but the guys have responded to the things we’ve challenged them to do throughout the season and they’ve made good improvements week to week,” Bennington head coach Bryan Shamburg said.
Ell-Saline is coming off the biggest win of their time in eight-man, after handing a ranked Little River team that clobbered them in 2022 a definitive 24-14 loss last Friday.
“We’re finding ourselves and we feel a lot better about ourselves defensively,” Roche said. “We made some changes in our secondary to take advantage of our speed and experience and that’s allowed us to take that next step as a defense.”
Offensively, the Cardinals are led by an excellent backfield consisting of Marshall Johnson, Ryder Dent, and Joe Hiechel, who have combined for over 800 yards of total offense and 11 touchdowns already.
Stopping that group will be a big challenge for Bennington, but one the Bulldogs feel they’re up to ahead of this week four matchup.
“Ell-Saline is always physical and they’re a well-coached, disciplined team,” Shamburg said. “It’s important that everybody does their job and that we understand our assignments on every play. They have good speed but they can pound the ball too so we’ll have to be ready to counter that.”
On the other side of the matchup, Ell-Saline will have to find an answer for Gabe Davidson, who is averaging over seven yards per carry through the first three games of the season.
Kickoff between the Cardinals and Bulldogs is set for 7:00 on the campus of Ell-Saline in Bennington.