Football preview: Cards will travel to Apollo tonight

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By Eric Morken

Sports Reporter

The Alexandria football team has a good opportunity to stretch its winning streak to four games to start the season when it travels to St. Cloud to take on Apollo tonight.

The Cardinals will be faced with a similar situation as they were last week when Fergus Falls came to town. St. Cloud Apollo has just one win in its past 12 games. That came in the Eagles’ season opener against an Otters team that is still searching for its first win since 2008.

The Cardinals are on the other side of things, trying to avoid an upset. A letdown doesn’t seem likely with the way the Alexandria defense has played through the last two games. The Cardinals have created 10 turnovers in their wins over St. Cloud Tech and Fergus Falls. In those wins, they’ve allowed just seven total points.

That has allowed the offense plenty of opportunities to pull away. The Cardinals did just that against the Otters last week after letting Fergus Falls stick around through the first two quarters. Michael Joerger and Parker Giroux were a big part of that. They have proven to be two of the more explosive backs in the Central Lakes Conference through the first three games.

“It’s awesome,” center Andrew Werk said about blocking for those two after their win over Fergus Falls last Friday. “Just knowing that if a play goes wrong or we miss a block, they can make something out of it. At least get two or three yards. These guys are awesome. They can bust a play anytime and the defenses are always thinking about that.”

The Cardinals will use that running game to try and set up the pass again tonight. Cole Ellison has proven his ability to beat defenses for big plays in typical running situations. His longest touchdown passes of 20 and 69 yards both came on the Cardinals’ first play of the offensive possession.

A stingy defense, an explosive running game and a timely passing attack have led the Cardinals to 3-0. Another strong performance could move them to 4-0 heading into a homecoming contest with Bemidji next Saturday.

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