CARDINALS WIN! CARDINALS WIN!

Last Friday night there were dozens of teams gearing up to play football games all over the state of Idaho.  Every team had prepared and every team had a certain amount of drive to win their game.  But in one of those small Idaho towns where two teams were set to do battle there was something different in the air.  For every team that would finish the night as winners there was another team that had to be the loser.  In this particular small town the visiting Soda Springs Cardinals were well aware of what it was like to finish a game on the losing end but on this night something was just different.

The sudden and unexpected departure of the team’s head coach and starting quarterback has been well documented as has the response by the interim coaching staff and remaining players.  The coaching staff has elected to not have a single head coach but are led in large part by Aaron Hobbs and Corey Harrison.  They have brought a positive approach to the team focusing mainly on building team morale and confidence.  As the Cardinals took the field in Firth on Friday night the coaches were eager to see if this new approach had worked.  Coach Hobbs stated, “I wanted to see if what we talked about as far as a never quit mentality and being really focused and intentional on things would pay off and how they would respond.”  They would get an answer to that question very early on in the game when, on their first offensive play of the game the Cardinals fumbled the ball and gave it to the Cougars.  “We didn’t see any of that hanging their heads, mopy, oh no here we go again body language at all during this game.”  Coach Harrison agreed with that sentiment.  “It was a totally different vibe.  And even when the other team scored later in the game the boys were still right in it and didn’t skip a beat.”  The Cardinals found the endzone twice in the first half of play.  Both scores came off of passes from new quarterback Makiah Browning to Zayden Garbett, one of which was a ninety yard strike.  The remainder of the game was put on the shoulders of the defense who only allowed one score giving the Cardinals a 13-8 victory.

I caught up with the team on Monday night during practice and there was definitely a different vibe happening.  When I arrived the varsity and jv squads were participating in a light scrimmage.  I watched closely to see what the atmosphere was like.  I saw senior players approach some of the underclassmen that were on the sidelines perhaps a little distracted and tell them to “lock in” or in other words focus.  I saw varsity defensive backs giving tips to jv receivers on how to run routes and yes I did even witness the inevitable authority check from the veterans on the team to the underclassmen.  All in all what I witnessed was a team trying to better themselves and grow together.  I took the opportunity to talk to the seniors on the team.  When I asked them how it felt to break the nineteen game losing streak several of them spoke at once using words like “amazing” and “incredible”.  I went on to ask them what they thought the difference was between last week’s game and previous ones they had played in?  Kayden Harrison answered, “we wanted to win for the coaches and each other.  We trusted each other.”  Gage Peck added, “The main difference was we had coaches that believed in our abilities to go out and win that game.”

In speaking with the coaches you could see the pride on their faces when speaking of the players.  Coach Harrison stated, “They just played good.  They played as a team helping each other out.  It was a true team effort.”  Coach Hobbs added, “I was just proud of them for taking what we talked about in such a short amount of time and translating it onto the field.”

I finished my visit with the team by asking the seniors what they wanted to leave as their legacy at Soda Springs High School?  I got several good answers. Here are a couple.  Elijah Dilworth said, “I want us to be known as the class that went through the trials but still prevailed.  We never quit and we never let adversity get to us.”  Gage Peck added, “I want us to be known as the class that turned things around for Soda Springs and proved why football in Soda Springs is important while showing the younger kids that we can win in Soda Springs.”

As games were finishing last Friday night I doubt any team in the entire state felt the way the Soda Springs Cardinals did.  That team victory in a small Idaho town showed that the Cardinals didn’t just win on the field but they will win in life as well.