‘Disappointing’ loss in game against Creighton

RANDOLPH - A difficult loss against Creighton has thrown the Randolph Cardinals football playoff hopes into what-if mode.

Creighton handed Randolph (2-5) a 70-28 defeat in the Cardinals home finale as the seniors left their field with a disappointing taste in their mouths, said Coach Mark Lech.

“The team got off to a rough start on offense and gave up some crucial turnovers in the second quarter which gave Creighton a 40-0 lead at halftime,” Lech said. “We kept composure and came out in the second half and didn’t give up, scoring 28 points of our own. It was too much Creighton though. After a bad first half, Dayton Winkelbauer at quarterback really played great in the last two quarters. He showed the poise that was lacking early and connected on a number of crucial passes to keep Randolph marching down the field which eventually led to scores. Gage Jensen ran tough and really refused to go down leading to some big first downs in the second half.”

Sophomore Lucas Bartels said the team did some exciting things despite losing a valuable teammate due to injury.

“Joe Miller got injured during the game and in the second quarter, they just really took off. They could still throw it and they came out and were trying to throw some deep balls, but, for the most part, they just ran a lot,” Bartels said. “But in the third quarter we played better. We could throw the ball. We could run the ball. In the fourth quarter, they just took off again. It was just a tough game.”

Randolph saw top performances by Gage Jensen (10 carries, 69 yards, one touchdown and four catches for 84 yards and a touchdown); Bryson Eledge (21 carries, 64 yards, two touchdowns); and Winkelbauer (9-for-23,143 yards passing, one score).

Randolph travels to Wausa to end their season. The game is an early one with a 3 p.m. kickoff Friday.

“Wausa is trying to set themselves up for the playoffs, so it would be great to play the spoiler and knock off the Vikings,” Lech said.

Bartels said the team hopes to make the playoffs after still winning twice as many games this year as the past two years combined.

“We still want the extra win and I think this is the most wins for four years,” he said.