A sudden end

Those darned fourth downs.

A case could have been made that if they had made three more key stops during their otherwise very-successful campaign in 2023, the Carrington Cardinals may have been sitting with nine wins in 10 games instead of six.

But armchair speculation is ultimately just that, and Carrington played the cards they were dealt in hosting their first home playoff game since 2018 when the 6-2 Oakes Tornadoes invaded Cardinal Stadium.

The Tornadoes proved their mettle, tested by their gauntlet of a Region 1 schedule, and made the plays to be made in a 27-21 win that ended the Cards' season at 6-4.

Both teams' defenses held serve in the first quarter in a scoreless tie, but an Oakes drive moved deep into Cardinal territory in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

Senior Tornado quarterback Blayson Dolney threw the first of his four touchdown passes, hitting Mario Garza on a five-yard strike and a 6-0 lead.

Carrington got on the board with a nicely-executed pass from Josh Bickett to running back Logan Weninger, covering 27 yards for the score. Grady Shipman's extra point put the Cards ahead at 7-6.

One of the Cards' concerns this year has been giving up the big play in the passing game, and Dolney lofted a beautiful throw to a wide-open Trey Skoglund in the middle of the field. Seventy-six yards later, the Tornadoes were back in front with the extra point, 13-7.

Late in the half, the Tornado special teams would strike. A slow-developing punt snap and kick from Shipman deep in Cardinal territory was blocked by Dolney, and the ball rolled into the end zone before Shipman was forced to take the safety and a 15-7 lead for Oakes into halftime.

The Tornadoes had a shot for more points following the free kick with 22 seconds to go, but Josh Bickett intercepted Dolney in the end zone to end the half.

In the third quarter, Weninger struck back, using his track speed to bust a big play for 77 yards and the score past the Oakes defenders. The pass on the two-point conversion failed, but CHS got back in the game, trailing 15-13.

A fourth-down play for Oakes on the following drive at the Cardinal 35 went for a score, as Dolney found tight end Max Walock to make the score 21-13. The Cards' Brock Jungels kept them within one possession with a block on the extra point kick attempt from Beau Thorpe.

Weninger put the team on his back on the next fourth quarter drive, scoring from nine yards out and running it in from the "wildcat" formation on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 21-21 with just inside eight minutes to go.

The second fourth down heartbreak, and ultimately the fatal one, occurred on the final Oakes drive, as Walock hauled in another back-breaking pass from 13 yards away at the 2:53 mark of the game.

Now needing a touchdown, the Cards had a chance to tie, advancing to midfield before a desperation Bickett pass was intercepted by Marcus Garza to end the Cards' chances.

Dolney went 14-for-23 for 259 yards and four touchdowns, negating a big 188-yard rushing effort from Weninger on 18 carries.

Walock had 130 receiving yards and Skoglund 109 for Oakes, who advanced to play Kindred in the Class A second round.

McKade Zink had eight solo tackles, while Aaron Neumiller and Corbin Clifton each accounted for seven in defeat for CHS.

Oakes' leading tacklers were Marcus Garza with 11 solo stops and three assists, while Skoglund had 10 unassisted and three assisted tackles.

Bickett went 8-for-15 for 78 yards and the touchdown to Weninger, but was haunted by three interceptions thrown in the game.

Class A Football Playoffs

First Round

Oakes 27, Carrington 21

Oakes 0 15 0 12 - 27

Cgtn. 0 7 6 8 - 21

Second Quarter

Oakes: Mario Garza 5 yard pass from Blayson Dolney (pass failed)

Carrington: Logan Weninger 27 yard pass from Josh Bickett (Grady Shipman kick)

Oakes: Trey Skoglund 76 yard pass from Dolney (Beau Thorpe kick)

Oakes: Safety, blocked punt run out of end zone

Third Quarter

Carrington: Weninger 77 yard run (pass failed)

Fourth Quarter

Oakes: Max Walock 35 yard pass from Dolney (kick blocked)

Carrington: Weninger 9 yard run (Weninger run)

Oakes: Walock 13 yard pass from Dolney (pass failed)

Carrington Statistics

Offense

Passing: Bickett 8-15-78 yards-TD-3 INT

Rushing: Weninger 18-188-2 TD; Bickett 13-34; Corbin Clifton 4-24; Jaxon Schaefer 1-4; McKade Zink 2-3

Receiving: Weninger 3-34-TD; Clifton 2-22; Aaron Neumiller 2-11; Grady Shipman 1-9

Defense

Tackles (unassisted-assisted); Mc. Zink (8-7); Neumiller (7-5); Clifton (7-4); Jake Otto (5-10); Carson Ova (5-5); Brock Jungels (4-7); Shipman (4-5); Bickett (3-3); Weninger (3-2); Schaefer (2-0); Cody Otto (0-9); Maverick Zink (0-4)

Sack: Neumiller

Tackles for Loss: Clifton and Jungels 2, Neumiller, Mc. Zink

Interception: Bickett

Blocked Kick: Jungels

Oakes Statistics

Offense

Passing: Dolney 14-23-259-4 TD-INT

Rushing: Skoglund 12-66; Mario Garza 16-63; Dolney 7-49

Receiving: Walock 4-130-2 TD; Skoglund 6-109-TD; Marcus Garza 1-8; Brogan Roney 1-7; Marcus Garza 1-8; Mario Garza 1-5-TD

Defense

Tackles (unassisted-assisted): Marcus Garza (11-3); Skoglund (10-3); Roney (6-0); Mario Garza (5-0); Christopher Titus (4-4); Case Awender (3-3); Tate Thorpe (3-2); Dolney (3-1); Carter Ptacek (1-1); Walock (1-0); Maddox Cline (1-0); Dylan Harris (0-2)

Sacks: Marcus Garza 1, Mario Garza and Roney 0.5

Tackles for Loss: Marcus Garza 5, Mario Garza 4, Roney, Skoglund, Thorpe

Interceptions: Dolney, Marcus Garza, Walock

Blocked Punt: Dolney