Cadet football team rips Chickasaws, 35-0

 NEW HAMPTON - After a slow start to the game, the Crestwood varsity football team marched to a 21-0 halftime lead and cruised to an impressive 35-0 win over New Hampton on Friday, Sept. 18.

The win improved Crestwood’s overall record to 4-0 and 1-0 in Class 2A District 3. New Hampton dropped to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in district play.

Crestwood will host Forest City at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25 for its homecoming game. There will not be a freshman/sophomore game on Sept. 25.

The Cadets played an excellent game on both sides of the ball. Crestwood senior quarterback Alex Loden looked poised in the pocket as he connected on seven of 13 pass attempts for 175 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also gained 111 yards rushing and one touchdown on only 10 carries. Senior Finn Donlan snagged six of Loden’s passes for 134 yards and two scores, including a 62-yard touchdown strike.

Loden noted that Friday’s game was a great team victory.

“It’s great to see how far our (football) program has come,” Loden said. “To be part of this is amazing. You’ve got to love it when you see the ball get caught (for a score) and you hear the crowd cheering.”

The quarterback gave kudos to the Cadets’ incredible defense, which recorded its second shutout this season.

“We couldn’t do any of this without our defense,” Loden said. “We’re playing well on both sides of the ball. Our potental has always been there. We give it our all in every practice, and it’s amazing.”

Crestwood Head Coach Justin Denner is proud of the improvement and growth the team has shown this season.

“Every week, we talk about growing and continuing to improve,” Denner said. “That’s all this week was about. We didn’t play our best last week (against Independence) but we got the win. We took a huge step forward tonight.

“Our kids handled the pressure great. We talk every week about trying to keep things in perspective. We do whatever we need to do to get ourselves mentally ready. Once you get into district play, every game is huge. 

“Our guys had a great week of practice and handled things well. We executed at a high level against New Hampton, which was great.

“We had a great game plan all the way around (offense, defense, special teams), and we played well against a really good New Hampton team. They are a much improved team compared to last year, but our guys were ready to go.

“We didn’t score on our first drive, but we got big stops on defense when we needed them. We bent but didn’t break. New Hampton had a long drive to start the second half, but we got a field goal stop. 

“Then, right after that, we got a long touchdown run by Alex Loden. Alex also hit a couple of big passes to Finn Donlan, which was big for us. The passes opened up our offense. We had a mismatch we felt we could take advantage of, and we executed very well," Denner said.