The Diamond Wildcats fell to the Miller Cardinals Friday night by a score of 48-0, for their second Spring River Valley Conference loss this season.
Miller is currently ranked No. 7 in the Class 1 Polls and has scored a combined 96 points in its first two games this season.
“This is a heck of a football team. Their offensive line controlled the field and we didn’t execute as well as we should have but we played hard,” Diamond coach Aaron Davied said. “I can see why they are ranked in the polls. They also have some great receivers and we were playing two freshmen and two sophomores in our (secondary) backfield.”
Having won the toss and electing to receive, Miller scored on the second play of the game with a 58-yard run by quarterback Justin Jack with 11:41 on the clock, followed by the extra point by Riley Jack.
Diamond forced to punt after its series, was pushed back to its own goal line until Cardinals running back Stewart Parnell scored on a 3 yard run, followed by a Riley Jack point after with 8:06 on the clock.
Miller made an onside kick and recovered the ball on the Diamond 49 yard line. On the next play Jack connected with tight end Dustin Cates for a 49-yard touchdown pass and run. With 7:55 on the clock Miller led 21-0.
Diamond, on the next series, came out with a double-tight end front and wishbone formation in the backfield. The lead fullback in the wishbone was Number 72, Austin Fields, a 305-pound defensive lineman.
It took the Cardinals two series to adjust their defense to handle the Wildcats new formation before they were able to get the ball back and strike again on a 30-yard run by Derrick Estell with 3:40 left in the quarter.
Miller held and forced Diamond to punt, giving the Cards the ball late in the quarter. During this series the Diamond backfield shone.
Freshman defensive back Brodie Bien dropped Miller ball carriers two plays in a row for losses. On third down, Dylan Welch batted the ball away from Miller’s All-State receiver Tyler Hinshaw for an incomplete pass. Miller went for it on 4th down and failed on another incomplete pass.
In the second quarter Miller’s Daniel Parscal broke free for a 78-yard touchdown run. Later Jack dropped the ball into Hinshaw’s hands on a middle screen for a second touchdown.
Diamond turned Miller’s defensive aggressiveness against itself.
Davied turned to a short shuttle pass to the running backs and was able to gain some ground and forced the Cardinals line and linebackers to slow down their forward movement to the Diamond quarterback.
Miller’s final score came at 7:39 in the third quarter when Brandon McNutt scored on a 6 yard run. The extra point was good but there was a Cardinal penalty and the ball was moved back. The second kick was wide and Miller had to settle for only six points, 48-0 Miller.
The Wildcats first scoring opportunity came in the fourth quarter, when kicker Fields attempted a 37-yard field goal, which was wide.
Next week Diamond will be in Pierce City to face off with the 2-0 Eagles, who defeated Liberal 43-0 Friday night.
