By Jeremy Lanthorn
In their final game of the 2020-2021 football season, the Devil Dogs took the field Thursday against another co-op. This time it was against their neighbors to the South and East. The Wheeler county Rattlers (Spray, Mitchell and Wheeler High School).
Both the Devil Dogs and Rattlers come ready to battle but Condon/Sherman won by a touchdown 32-40.
In a hard-fought game that began with a Rattlers touchdown and saw many big plays, turnovers and defensive stands by both sides the stars of the game tonight were Francisco Sanchez of Condon and Will James of Sherman. Sanchez and James are both seniors, both were given the opportunity to present their mothers with roses before the game, and both of them capped off their high school football careers with victory.
Will James (left) and Eddy Sanchez celebrate Senior Night and their last game.
Sanchez played on both sides of the ball, as a receiver on offense and as a safety/corner on defense. James again anchored the offensive line at center, and was a continual problem for the Rattlers when he was on the defensive line.
The Devil Dogs again saw major contributions from their young players, Talon Dark, Casey Nelson, Kole Martin, Eduardo Rubio in the backfield and Logan Barrett, Cade Vonborstel, and Luke Fritts on the line. Perhaps the most impressive thing to see this season has been the growth and development of this young core into a group of dedicated and skilled athletes on the gridiron.
Cade Von Barstel moves to tackle Wheeler Co.’s Clint Rutherford in Moro on Thursday night.
As with all games this season the offense was run through Braden Carnine. Despite having all six members of the Rattler defense keying on Carnine he was still often too much to stop. Stats were not available at the time this story was written but in Carnine’s previous three games he rushed for 642 yards, passed for 137, and had another 62 receiving yards, for a total of 841 total yards and 11 touchdowns (averaging 280.3 yards and 3.7 touchdowns per game).
Condon junior Braden Carnine.
Thursday night, April 1, 2021, April fool’s day. In a day that saw countless jokes played—likely primarily on suspicious parents and sibling—also saw possibly the cruelest joke of all unfold. In what should have been a pivotal game to decide a playoff seed or berth, instead it was simply a final game. There was nothing on the line tother than bragging rights, and the ability to end the season on a win.
The Devil Dogs will next take the field for practice in 136 days, with their next game coming in a mere 153 days.