Tipton faces Concordia with hopes of making jump in district seeding

Tipton freshman wide receiver Mikey Buckner is brought down by a Santa Fe defender during last Friday's game in Tipton. The Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak with a 36-0 win against the Chiefs.
Tipton freshman wide receiver Mikey Buckner is brought down by a Santa Fe defender during last Friday's game in Tipton. The Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak with a 36-0 win against the Chiefs.

TIPTON - The Tipton Cardinals are looking to finish the regular season on a high note.

Following their first shutout win of the year with a 36-0 victory against the Santa Fe Chiefs last Friday, Tipton is set to face the Concordia Orioles. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. today in Concordia.

The Orioles (2-6) are coming off of a 49-21 loss to Crest Ridge last Friday.

Tipton coach Tony Braby said the Cardinals are still riding the emotions from their win last week and want to carry it over into tonight's game.

"We feel like we've got a lot of momentum going," Braby said. "We want to continue that ride into Concordia and we've noticed a lot better attention in film studies and better practice sessions going on. It seemed to give us an extra bounce in our step."

Braby said last week's victory was one of the Cardinals' better games on defense, winning by shutout for the first time since blanking Harrisburg 48-0 on Sept. 11, 2015.

"We were really stingy against the run," Braby said. "Santa Fe's longest run may have been 5 yards or less. We had great coverage on their receivers. It was like all of the sudden, we were night and day in what we had done the week before Santa Fe with a really bad first half against Cole Camp.

"I knew the team was there, I knew the team was capable of doing this we just hadn't put four quarters together."

Braby said it seems like the attitude of the team has changed moving forward.

"It was like, 'Hey, if we really work hard and and do our jobs, we can have fun like we did the last game," he said. "They are really looking forward to this game and putting forth another great effort."

Braby said Concordia uses a lot of misdirection on offense.

"They like to run the option from the shotgun position and put a lot of pressure on our outside containment," he said. "They have a good, tall receiving group and a big, tall quarterback, and what they lack in possibly their running game they definitely try to make it up by throwing the ball."

Braby said Concordia can score plenty of points, despite its record.

The Orioles average 22.8 points per game and scored 63 points last month against Santa Fe. They have also scored at least 20 points in three other games.

Tipton, meanwhile, is averaging 22.5 points per game. Last week's output was the Cardinals' second-highest point total this season, only trailing the 38 points they scored last month in a win against Slater.

"We are definitely going to get challenged with their passing game and their option game," Braby said.

Getting started fast will really be helpful for the Cardinals, according to Braby. He wants his team to be more balanced with the run and pass games on offense.

"If we can get started well and play good defense I think that's going to be a big factor in us coming away with the win," Braby said.

Tipton is currently in the No. 4 spot in the Class 1 District 5 standings with 30.09 points, while Concordia is No. 5 with 23.16 points.

With one game to go, the Cardinals are assured of a home game in the first round of the district playoffs. However, with a win tonight and losses by Sweet Springs and Slater, the Cardinals could move into the No. 2 seed in the districts. Sweet Springs is second with 32.14 points, while Slater is third with 30.31 points.

Tipton holds the head-to-head advantage against Slater, should the Wildcats finish one spot ahead of the Cardinals.