Time to check the gridiron news

Cardinals kick Warriors in windstorm
By MIKE BIALKA
Sports Editor
The answer, my friend, was blowing in the wind.
With a 33-mph north wind howling through Adamson Field it was a decided advantage for the Alexandria Cardinals and Brainerd Warriors to have the wind at their backs, particularly when passing or kicking.
The team with the wind scored all but seven points Friday as Alexandria rallied from 14-0 and 26-22 deficits to stun the Warriors 36-33 in Central Lakes Conference football.
"I thought our kids fought valiantly," Warriors coach Ron Stolski said. "It was just one of those nights where the wind did play a factor."Brainerd scored 14 points with the wind in the opening quarter on 25- and 23-yard runs by Bo Jedinak and Luke Olson.
Alexandria had the wind in the second and hung up 22 points for a 22-14 halftime lead.
The Warriors scored 12 unanswered points with the wind in the third, on runs of one and 59 yards by Jedinak, to seize a 26-22 edge. Jedinak finished with 118 yards on 16 carries.
In the fourth, with the wind, Alexandria scored on its first two possessions, going up 36-26.Brainerd's Jared Mueller tallied on a 9-yard pass from quarterback Nate Schaefbauer, the game's first TD against the wind, with 2:49 left.
Schaefbauer completed 8 of 16 passes for 144 yards. On the ensuing kickoff, the Warriors' onside attempt didn't travel the required 10 yards, giving Alexandria the ball and Brainerd with no timeouts left.
The Cardinals made one first down, ran out the clock and snapped Brainerd's five-game win streak."It seemed like the wind became such a mental factor, more than a physical factor," Warriors defensive coordinator Bob Brakke said. "It was almost like the kids instantly got confidence when the wind was blowing, and lost confidence when they were against it."
Alexandria special teams converted two Warrior mistakes into touchdowns on successive possessions in the second quarter. The first was with Brainerd facing fourth and 12 at its 21. The snap sailed over the head of Warriors punter Nick Rardin, and Alexandria's Jason Nomsen recovered in the end zone.On the next possession Rardin was in punt formation on fourth and four at the Brainerd 26.
This time the Cardinals blocked the kick, recovering at the Brainerd 5. Nathan Kelly converted the block into a 1-yard touchdown run 17 seconds before halftime.Yet another crucial play involved the Warrior punt team. With 6:41 remaining in the game Rardin was in punt formation on fourth and two at the Brainerd 15. This time it was a fake.
The ball was snapped to Jedinak, who was stopped a yard shy of a first down.Three plays later, Kelly scored on a 3-yard run and the Cardinals led 36-26."I take responsibility for that fake punt," Stolski said. "I wanted to call it off, and I didn't. As it turned out that was the margin but at the time it didn't look like it was going to be. We needed to get something going and they were still three up (29-26 after the fake)."