Cromwell tops Carlton, 29-6

Photos by: Marianne Pierson

Tyler Peterson-NSO

It was a game full of hard hits Friday night when Cromwell and Carlton went head to head on the gridiron. The Cardinals went into halftime with a 20-0 lead, but the Bulldogs continued to work and fight until the final whistle blew. The ending result of the night was the Cromwell Cardinals topping the Carlton Bulldogs 29-6 and moving to 3-0 on the season. The Bulldogs fell to 0-3 on the season with the loss to Cromwell.

The game got off to a quick start when the Cardinals sophomore, Carter Karppinen scampered in for a 14 yard touchdown run on their first drive of the game. The Cardinals also capitalized on the two-point conversion with freshman quarterback Zion Smith pounding it across the goal-line to put the Cardinals up 8-0. The Bulldogs froze the Cardinals on their next possession when Carlton junior, Cade Pierson made a beautiful interception in traffic, but the Bulldogs could not capitalize on the turnover.

The Bulldogs also made another nice defensive play early in the 2nd quarter when junior Mike Moralez blocked a punt, giving the Bulldogs great field position, but on that next possession for the Bulldogs, they coughed up the ball and junior Austin Pfisthner recovered it for the Cardinals, but the Cardinals didn’t take advantage of the turnover after having a 3 and out and punting it away.

The next time Carlton touched the ball, junior quarterback Bard Day threw one deep down field, only for it to be picked off by Pfisthner, giving him his second turnover of the game. However, the Cardinals took advantage this time when they ran a well executed reverse wide receiver pass with none other than Austin Pfisthner throwing a 25 yard touchdown to wide open senior high end, Tristan Johnson. Johnson caught his second touchdown of the day later in the second quarter when he received a 35 yard pass from Zion Smith to give the Cardinals the 20-0 lead before half.

The 3rd quarter started off with yet another turnover in the game, but this time it was Cromwell who let the ball slip out of their hands, and Bulldogs junior, Dominic Bennett got the fumble recovery. The Bulldogs continued to struggle on capitalizing on turnovers, having to give the ball back to the Cardinals. Mid-way through the 3rd quarter the Cardinals connected on a 52 yard touchdown pass only to have it called back on an illegal block in the back, causing the Cardinals to have to punt the ball back to the Bulldogs and downing it close to the 5 yard line. The Bulldogs struggled moving the ball and ended up getting tagged with a safety when the ball got snapped over Carlton’s punters head causing him to get tackled in the end zone, giving the Cardinals the 22-0 lead. The Cardinals weren’t done there, on their next possession freshman Eli Warpula ran into the end zone from 12 yards out.

The Bulldogs continued to fight through the 4th quarter, shutting the Cardinals out and showing a strong offense to end the game. The Bulldogs drove down the field on the ground and ended up punching in a well earned touchdown when junior Dominic Bennett pushed a 2 yard run into the end zone, getting the Bulldogs on the board. That would be the end of the scoring for the evening, with the Cardinals coming out ahead 29-6.

Cromwell was led by quarterback Zion Smith, who went 8-14 for 173 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT. Smith also lead the Cardinals on the ground with 50 rushing yards on 6 attempts. Tristan Johnson also had a fantastic night, catching 5 balls for 131 yards and 2 TD’s. Senior Dean Johnson also had a big effort in the victory, racking up a game high 18 tackles for the Cardinals.

The Bulldogs were led by junior Dominic Bennett who had 69 yards on the ground in 21 attempts and had a team high 16 tackles. Cade Pierson also pitched in a nice effort, with 61 yards on the ground and a nice total of 113 return yards on four attempts. Pierson also had 7 tackles for the Bulldogs and grabbed their only interception of the night.

Cromwell (3-0) will be back in action on Friday, September 20th, when they take on the Floodwood Polar Bears (3-0) at home in a battle of the unbeatens. The Bulldogs (0-3) will be looking for their first win when they travel to Isle to take on the Isle Huskies (1-2) on Friday, September 20th.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com