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Cromwell-Wright struggles to contain new co-op team
Carlton/Wrenshall's Matthew Santkuyl avoids a tackle from Cromwell's Daniel Belden on a run play during Friday eveing's matchup in Carlton.
Cromwell's Jacob Anderson gets a hand on a fumbled ball as Carlton/Wrenshall's Seth Archambeaux scrambles to make a recovery.
Carlton/Wrenshall's Isaiah Johnson gains some yardage on a run play during Friday evening's matchup against the Cromwell Cardinals in Carlton.
The 2019 combination of the Carlton Bulldogs and Wrenshall Wrens football teams continued its early season success Friday night as the Raptors picked up their third win of the season. Using stellar defense in the first half against Cromwell-Wright at Jim Erickson Field in Carlton, the Raptors rolled out to an early lead and never looked back. The final score was 48-6.
"Our offense is finally starting to click," said Jeremy Zywicki, co-head coach for the Raptors. "We knew it would take a while to get everyone on the same page, but we seem to be heading in the right direction."
Justin Swanson gave the Raptors the early lead with a 29-yard touchdown run and Ryan Grey got the extra point to make it 7-0 just a little under two minutes into the contest. Swanson scored his second of three touchdowns on the night with 2:32 to play in the first quarter, this time on a 10-yard touchdown run.
The Raptors made it 21-0 after the ensuing kickoff the kick bounced off a Cardinals player and ended in the hands of the Raptors. Matt Santkuyl scored with a 60-yard touchdown run on the next play.
The Raptors added three more second-quarter touchdowns as Isaiah Johnson scored twice with runs of 5 and 18 yards and Kaden Crane bit a 14-yard touchdown pass to Santkuyl to make it 41-0 at the half.
The Cardinals - who only managed 44 yards of offense the week previous against South Ridge and only 28 in the first half against the Raptors - took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove down to the Raptor 3-yard line. Jasper Goranson then scored the Cardinals first touchdown in seven quarters.
Goranson's touchdown cut the margin to 41-6, but any hopes of a wild comeback were short-lived as the Raptors put together a seven-minute drive capped off by Swanson's third touchdown of the game with only 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw the game in running time and no more scoring. The Raptors second unit defense was stellar, stopping any threat from Cromwell-Wright. Swanson finished the night with 132 yards rushing to go along with his three touchdowns and Santkuyl had three receptions for 66 yards.
"It was a nice win," Raptors co-head coach Jason Crane said, "But we need to clean things up that's for sure. We had some bad penalties which gave them some extra chances but our defense stopped them over and over again."
"It's been a long long long time since Carlton or Wrenshall has beaten the Cardinals so it was even more special to do it at home and as a new unit," he said.
Carlton-Wrenshall will take their 3-0 record on the road tonight when they face the 2-1 Isle Huskies, who are coming off a 40-6 win over Onamia. Cromwell-Wright will return home to host McGregor tonight after being on the road for the past two weeks. The neighboring team is 2-1 and coming off a 50-6 loss to Ogilvie.
Because scheduling was already fixed for the season when Carlton and Wrenshall decided to pair up, the Raptors play a nine-man schedule during the regular season but will move up to Class A and 11-man for playoffs.
