ELIZABETH — After an oddball season-opening victory with some slim offensive numbers and an off-the-map trouncing of Minico High School in Pocatello, Idaho, in Week 2, the team ranked No. 2 in Colorado Class 3A football seemed ready to stretch its legs.
Elizabeth stretched them 95 yards long.
Joe Finken returned the game’s opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and the host Cardinals welcomed No. 8 Palmer Ridge to the 3A ranks with a 41-20 rout Friday night.
Brad Goldsberry, a 5-foot-8, 165-pound senior, led Elizabeth with three touchdown runs, including a 15-yard bruiser with 5:16 left in the game that put the Cardinals ahead 41-7. His 12 carries for 101 yards trailed teammate Matt Biery, who had a game-high 104 yards on 17 carries.
“We knew we would have to grind out yards,” said Chris Cline, Elizabeth’s 11th-year coach. “We missed a couple of big plays, but the offensive line dominated. And we gained 4, 5, 6 yards at a time. We’d like to go long, we have the speed. But we love pounding it out.”
It was a complete statistical turnaround for the Cardinals after they ran just 26 plays from scrimmage in a 28-13 win over Erie to open the season. Elizabeth’s double-wing attack kept its offense on the field for most of the first half.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ defense blanketed Palmer Ridge in the trenches. The Bears didn’t cross midfield until 10:45 of the third quarter.
“It’s nice to have some time on offense for a change,” Goldsberry said. “Today, it was more even, and we showed it on offense. We finally got to put some points on the board.”
Goldsberry’s 2-yard scoring run and another from 1 yard out within nine minutes kept the Cardinals rolling. They went into halftime leading 34-0.
“That’s what happens against a fast, experienced football team,” Palmer Ridge coach Monte Gutow-ski said. “It was a like a deer in headlights. Elizabeth forced us to make mistakes. They ran all over us tonight.”
Hunter Warwick, a senior quarterback, led Palmer Ridge’s scoring attack with two TD runs, including a 71-yard sprint down the right sideline with 35 seconds remaining. His nine carries for 84 yards made for the bulk of the Bears’ 152 total yards.
For Elizabeth, patience was the buzzword. Short runs up the middle and around the end chipped off yards. With only two players heavier than 225 pounds, the Cardinals took advantage of an impressive trapping scheme to string together long drives. As a unit, they rushed for 302 yards on 53 carries and finished with 334 total yards.
Palmer Ridge 0 0 0 20 — 20
Elizabeth 14 20 0 7 — 41
E — Finken 95 kickoff return (S.Taylor kick). E — Goldsberry 2 run (S.Taylor kick). E — Goldsberry 1 run (S.Taylor kick). E — Butler 1 run (kick failed). E — Biery 2 run (S. Taylor kick). PR — Howard 16 run (Johnson kick). E — Goldsberry 15 run (S.Taylor kick). PR — Warwick 1 run (kick failed). PR — Warwick 71 run (Johnson kick).
