Cardinals claim win over Middleton

The Adamsville Cardinal football team kept their playoff hopes alive with a 41-0 victory over Middleton last Friday night. The Cardinals improved to 4-5 overall with the win.

The top two teams in each district receive automatic bids into the Class 2A state playoffs. The TSSAA has a ranking system that is used to decide the other teams that make the playoffs in each classification. The top 24 teams in the TSSAA poll in Class 2A are selected to receive playoff berths. The only exception would be if a team finished in the top two in their district and are ranked 25th or lower. In that case, the first or second place team in the district would replace the top 24 team. Adamsville is currently ranked 19th in Class 2A, according to the poll on the TSSAA website (tssaa.org).

Head coach Brandon Gray was pleased that his team was back on track and that several players who had been injured were able to return to the field. “We told our kids all week leading up to the game that we had to get back out and play our kind of football with some enthusiasm. We’ve got to deal with things that happen and come out and execute,” he said. “We are still working for a spot in the playoffs. They knew we had to win. This game showed them that when you take care of business, good things happen.”

The coach and his staff are also looking ahead to the postseason. “We don’t want to just make the playoffs; we want to be competitive,” he said. Gray feels that his team’s chances in the playoffs are better than some might think. “We’re not your usual 4-5 team,” he commented. “We’ve lost to some good teams. If our opponents just look at our record, we are going to surprise them.”

Adamsville got started early against Middleton in last week’s game. The Cardinals scored a pair of first quarter touchdowns. Stephen Jackson scored on a 4-yard run, and Bradley Melton completed a 26-yard pass to Josh Shoate. Dustin Plunk connected on each of the extra-point attempts to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead.

The Cardinals added to their lead with another touchdown in the second quarter. At the 9:33 mark of the quarter, Melton completed a 17-yard pass to Nate Garner for a score. After the Plunk PAT, the Cardinals led the game 21-0 at the half.

Adamsville added two more touchdowns in the third quarter and added another score in the final quarter to complete the scoring. Jamel Sanders scored on an 18-yard run, and Taylor Alexander rushed for a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter. John Reed Odom had a 2-yard touchdown run in the final quarter. Plunk and Christian Yanok each had an extra-point kick in the second half.

Sanders led the Cardinals in rushing in the game with 118 yards on 10 carries. John Blakely had 48 yards on three carries, and Jackson added 43 yards on five carries.

Melton completed 4-of-15 passes for 70 yards in the game. Shoate had 26 yards receiving. Garner finished the game with 24 yards receiving. Josh Burks led the Cardinal defense with 11 total tackles. Seth Killingsworth had nine tackles. Blakely finished with seven total stops, and Chase Gunn and Josh Chappell each had six tackles in the game.