Cardinal Pride Will Persevere

To say that the Cardinal football program has struggled in recent years is a huge understatement.  In the midst of a losing streak that spans over two seasons and now with the abrupt departure of their head coach and starting quarterback it would be easy for the players and the remaining staff to pack it in and chalk this season up to another failure but that is not in the Cardinals DNA.

Following another devastating loss on the road in Ririe the Soda Springs Cardinals were prepared to continue to work and strive to improve on their current situation.  What most involved with the team did not expect was that they would receive a message just two days later saying that head coach Colby Fangman and his son starting quarterback Alexander were departing from the team and the family had already moved out of town.  The news was shocking and left the rest of the coaching staff scratching their heads.  Not sure of what direction to take the staff, consisting of Aaron Hobbs, Corey Harrison, Dillon Liechty, and Isaac Pacheco, put their heads together and decided that they could not just end the season and that the boys and especially the senior class deserved the right to continue on and fight for their season.

The coaching staff had a brief discussion with the seniors on the team and it was decided that the team would continue on with what they had, meaning the boys wanted the remaining coaches to continue to coach them with no additions and in turn the boys would give them everything they have.  With it being the teams bye week the Cardinals didn’t skip a beat and continued to go to work everyday.  There would be no one head coach, just the staff working together to make the best of a bad situation.

We were able to speak briefly with Coach Hobbs.  “We just want to focus on what’s ahead and not dwell in the past.”  Coach Hobbs went on to say that the boys have not shown any let down due to the situation.  “We’re focusing on staying positive and getting the boys to believe in themselves and the team.  We want to give them a positive experience and bring fun back to the game.”

For the group of seniors whose final season is off to an inauspicious start they will be the ones to lead the team out of the darkness.  This year’s team has been presented with an opportunity to be known as the group that turned things around for the Cardinal football program.  That is not to say that they will not still face some adversity being in one of the toughest conferences in the state.  However this group of young men have the ability to rally around one another and bring relevance back to the Cardinal name in the world of high school football.  Cardinal pride will persevere and like a phoenix the football team will rise from the ashes.