Benefield: Full speed ahead for Cardinal Newman football

Cardinal Newman coach Paul Cronin had his team gathered around Friday night, moments after the visiting Cardinals dismantled rival Montgomery on their home field, and immediately began talking about Saturday’s practice.

No gloating, no back patting. A few words of encouragement, a thing or two to work on, and on to next.

Cardinal Newman entered the game with a league record that was only slightly better than Montgomery’s yet took the host team apart for four quarters in the most dominating fashion. It was 52-13 by game’s end and Newman had moved to 5-1 in league and the Vikings were dropped to 3-3.

The win keeps the Cardinals in the running for the NBL crown and quashes any slim chance the Vikings had to stay in the hunt.

The Cardinals are thinking long term.

“We have gotten better,” sophomore quarterback Jordan Brookshire said. “But there are things to work on.”

Like coach, like quarterback.

“It’s just a step in getting to playoffs,” Brookshire said of the win.

But before the playoffs, a little thing called the league title must be decided. After Friday night’s win, Cardinal Newman is chasing Rancho Cotate, which manhandled Ukiah 60-0 Friday night and also gave the Cardinals their only league loss.

With Windsor’s loss to Maria Carrillo on Friday, Newman is in sole possession of second place in league going into the final game next week when the Cardinals will take on Windsor.

The Cardinals showed every sign of peaking when it counts. After a non-conference preseason schedule that saddled them with two losses, the Cardinals have looked sharp.

And Friday night’s win was as thorough as it gets.

The Cardinals marched to victory largely behind dominant performances by Brookshire and senior running back Craig Lucey, who had three touchdowns apiece.

Brookshire had 233 yards on 15 carries. In the air, he was four of six attempts for 82 yards. When he wasn’t running, his sturdy running back was. Lucey had 171 yards on 23 carries.

But for Lucey, the defining moment wasn’t a slice of one of the Cardinals’ offensive flurries, it was sophomore defensive back Damian Wallace’s fourth-quarter interception of Vikings quarterback R.J. Flores. After Wallace snagged the ball deep in his own territory, he outsprinted the entire Vikings side until it was only Flores left to stop him.

Flores’ night of frustration ended with the hit he put on Wallace that sent the defensive back’s helmet flying.

But it was Wallace’s sturdy gallop that impressed Lucey.

“It’s really good to see guys out there playing aggressive,” Lucey said. “The way he finished it was really impressive. It was a symbolic play for how we should play all the time.”

The play could be seen as symbolic of Flores’ night as well. The senior quarterback had an impressive 241 passing yards but repeatedly lost his composure throughout the game. He threw two interceptions, but also threw his helmet to the turf.

It was a different story on the other sideline as the Cardinals calmly delivered 11 more points than they have averaged all season and held Montgomery to 9 points below their typical output.

But there wasn’t a lot of whooping from the Cardinals. After the game the young quarterback talked of the big picture, but also taking the rest of the season in pieces - not getting too far ahead of themselves.

Before the game, Cronin said that this deep into the season, his sophomore quarterback really can’t be considered a sophomore anymore. He’s got too much running in his legs and air under his tosses to be seen as an underclassman.

Brookshire showed the panache of a seasoned vet. He put up big numbers and found teammates who could do the same.

Late in the third quarter, he ran a quarterback keeper, showed his quickness and popped in for a one-yard touchdown run.

Less than two minutes into the fourth, Brookshire showed an entirely different kind of speed, out racing the entire Vikings squad for an 80-yard touchdown run.

But for Brookshire and the Cardinals, those pieces are just building blocks for next game, next practice, next Friday night.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com and on Twitter @benefield