COLDWATER — The Coldwater Cardinals did not disappoint their standing room only crowd on Friday, using a high-powered offense and a shut down defense to secure their first win over Jackson Northwest in four years with a 45-20 victory to celebrate their annual Homecoming festivities.
Coldwater started off the scoring after a long first drive that came mostly via the ground game. The Cardinals found the end zone first on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Dracyn Foster to Royale Flemming, Flemming’s first varsity touchdown, with 7:50 left in the first quarter, setting the tone for the game to come.
After letting up a long kick return for the Mounties that led to a quick touchdown the Cardinals buckled in and took over both sides of the ball.
Coldwater went on to score in all four quarters of the game while the defense held an extremely dangerous Northwest running game to just 68 yards all while keeping the Mounties off the board in the second and fourth quarters, respectively. Coldwater’s ability to create turnovers was a huge part of the win as three interceptions by the Cardinal defense, coming from Austin Fenningsdorf, Bennett McDonald, and Fleming, were huge in the battle for field position and ultimately the victory.
Top Performers
Dracyn Foster, QB, Coldwater- Foster continues his stellar season which has seen the junior become a true dual-threat quarterback. Foster finished the night going 14 for 18 passing for 225 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Foster also ran the ball 11 times for 59 yards.
Bennett McDonald, WR/DB, Coldwater- McDonald had a big game on both sides of the ball, hauling in four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown on offense while also recording an interception on defense.
Evan Lewis, WR/CB, Coldwater – Lewis hauled in five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Dayton Ennis, WR/DB, Coldwater- Ennis also did his part for the prolific Cardinal throwing attack, pulling in three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Royale Fleming, RB/DB, Coldwater – Fleming led the Coldwater rushing attack, carrying the ball 11 times for 125 yards while also hauling in two catches for eight yards and his first varsity touchdown. Including his 10-yard kickoff return Fleming recorded an impressive 143 all-purpose yards in the win.
Naseem Taha, RB, Coldwater – Taha finished the night with 15 carries for 66 yards and a score.
Jackson Reilly, OL/LB, Coldwater- Reilly led the Coldwater defense with 12 tackles
Cooper Golematis, DL, Coldwater – Golematis notched four tackles and a sack, his first at the varsity level.
Homecoming Winners
At halftime of the Cardinals win over Northwest it was announced that the 2025 Homecoming King, as voted by the students, is Jackson Reilly, while the Homecoming Queen for 2025 is Maranda Walinski.
What’s Next?
With the win Coldwater improves to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Interstate 8. The Cardinals will return to the gridiron on Friday when they travel to face the Parma Western Panthers who are 1-3 on the season.
Troy Tennyson, who was the sports editor for The Daily Reporter for 11 years, is now the sports editor at The Daily Telegram in Adrian. For any questions please email Troy at ttennyson@thedailyreporter.com.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater’s explosive offense, stingy defense lead Cardinals to Homecoming win
Reporting by Troy Tennyson, The Daily Telegram / Coldwater Daily Reporter
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