Cardinals Come Up Clutch in Semifinals

ALBION - Boone Central showed resilience an tenacity in crunchtime, as they held off Ashland-Greenwood Friday night 21-14 to earn a trip to the Class C-1 state title game.

The Cards dodged some early bullets, including a Blue Jays opening kickoff return TD that was called back on a penalty, and two deep potential scoring passes in the first quarter, one which was dropped and the other deflected and picked off by Brant Benes.

Ashland-Greenwood finally got on the board early in the 2nd, with a 24-yard touchdown dash by QB Dane Jacobsen, staking the Jays to a 7-0 lead. But Boone Central bounced right back, capping off a 65-yard scoring drive with a Parker Borer TD plunge from the 1. Then the Cardinals closed out the half on top 13-7 after James Fogelman tossed one to Caden Stokes from 14 yards out with 8 seconds left before halftime.

Boone Central continued their domination in the 3rd quarter, as Borer broke loose and outran everyone en route to a 65-yard scoring dash, putting the Cards up 21-7. The Blue Jays wouldn't go away quietly though, with Jacobsen-to-Derek-Tonjes cutting the deficit halfway through the 4th.

But the Cardinals would allow no more, pressuring the Ashland-Greenwood QB and sacking him six times to snuff out any late threat. Borer finised with 207 yards and 2 TDs on the night, while Fogelman threw for 82 yards and a passing TD and ran for 56 more. Boone Central now moves on the state championship game for the first time since 2017, in search of their first title in 9 years.