In last Friday's issue of The Badger Herald, it was written that The Herald football team would take the field against The Daily Cardinal ""with the intention of shocking the world.""
Consider the world decidedly unshocked.
The Daily Cardinal once again took down its archrival, The Badger Herald—scoring a 35-21 triumph in a very intense, but hardly competitive, football game Friday.
In a preview of the game, The Herald allowed for the possibility that it might ""fail in this valiant attempt"" to take down The Cardinal dynasty, which has now defeated its rival in at least five-straight matches. Failure is precisely what the overmatched and overwhelmed squad achieved.
The Cardinal will likely move up in the Associated Press rankings after the decisive win. Despite the embarrassing loss, The Herald will likely not drop out of the rankings due to large AP presence in The Herald pages.
After a sluggish first half that ended in a 14-14 tie, The Cardinal's superior talent grouped together, putting up three touchdowns with ease. Senior quarterback Justin Dreyfuss continually found sportswriter Tom Lea. Lea finished with a touchdown reception and a highlight-reel catch.
The key juncture of the game came with The Cardinal holding a seven-point lead and The Herald driving down the field. As Darryl Schnell, The Herald quarterback and co-features editor, dropped back to pass, the hundreds in attendance witnessed the eyes of city writer and Cardinal defensive captain, Quinn Craugh, light up like a kid on Christmas morning. Craugh stepped in front of the pass—intercepting it and running it back for six.
""[Schnell] threw the ball directly at us,"" Sports Editor Zach Kukkonen said. ""Maybe he was feeling woozy from getting that new—possibly gangrenous—navel tattoo.""
After a few uncertain calls on both sides, Cardinal head coach Adam Hoge was not about to let the referees spoil the party—he called his own name on a cross-field lateral that he in turn threw back to Dreyfuss for a 60-plus yard touchdown. The score put the game out of reach for good.
Dreyfuss assisted in all Cardinal scores, earning game-ball honors.
Lea emerged as the leading receiver, while sportswriters Nate Carey and Ben Hubner each had a touchdown reception.
When asked if he was always sure of victory, Editor-in -Chief Sam-Omar Hall responded: ""Well, duh.""
Cardinal Managing Editor, Laura-Claire Corson, surprised her staff with a cheap bottle of celebratory champagne.
""Purchasing this here bottle was a no-brainer. It was not ‘If we win,' but ‘WHEN we win,'"" she proudly informed the crowd. ""In the newspaper world, there is a reason Cardinals soar high and Badgers dig holes in the ground. Congratulations and bless us all.""
