Lindsay's playmakers ready, eye No. 11 Eagles

The Lindsay Cardinals (7-4, 2-2 ESL) have reached the postseason for the second straight year, snapping a four-year drought.

The Cardinals will host the Fresno Christian Eagles (5-5, 1-3 WSL), Friday night, in the Division V first round. They will hope to fare better this postseason, with home-field advantage on their side, after losing on the road to Parlier (32-14) in last year’s playoffs.

“It feels good to be back in the playoffs this season. We knew we had the team to get here again this year and that we had to figure out a way to get that winning attitude,” Lindsay coach Robert Hurtado said. “Really, we expected to get a few more wins during the regular season, but we made it to the playoffs.”

Though the Cardinals sport an unblemished home record of 6-0 this season, Hurtado downplayed its importance heading into the playoffs.

“At this point it really doesn’t matter anymore. 6-0 means nothing; we are 0-0 again. It’s a new season every week,” Hurtado said. “If we get this win, we will travel to Madera next week to play Liberty. We will need to become road warriors. Where we’re playing doesn’t matter anymore.”

Lindsay has suffered three crucial injuries since they beat the Spartans, 25-20, (the Eagles lost 54-19 to Strathmore) in losing both quarterbacks Gary Baker, Adam Gamboa along with their workhorse running back, Jonathan Duarte. It could have been a worry heading into the playoffs without their three biggest offensive playmakers, but all three players have recovered and will be ready to play.

“Gary has recovered from his concussion and has been cleared to play. Jonathan had a bruised hip but he will be back this week and ready to go. Adam’s hand injury is still lingering but it won’t sideline him,” Hurtado said.

Duarte rushed for 903 yards and 12 touchdowns on 135 carries during the regular season even though he has not stepped on the field since they demolished Orosi 40-19 back on Nov. 6.

“You can’t hold a guy like Jon down,” Hurtado said. “I don’t anticipate them being able to stop him this week. He will be key.”

Baker completed 56 of 95 passes for a total of 994 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions during the first nine games before he was injured in their tough loss to Corcoran on Oct. 30. After Baker’s injury, junior Gamboa stepped in at quarterback full time and was 15-for-25, 160 yards one score and an interception. Gamboa racked up nearly 900 yards of offense during the regular season, completing 37-of-62 passes for 668 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception and rushing for 201 yards on 39 carries and five touchdowns.

Vincent Arguelles and Jorge Orozco led the Cardinals’ defense in tackles during the regular season with Arguelles racking up 80 with Orozco collecting 78.

The Eagles enjoy solid production from both their passing and running games. They are led by quarterback Riley Endicott, who completed 100-of-191 passes for 1,366 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Fresno Christian’s running game is powered by senior running back Landon Martens, who had six 100-yard rushing games during the season on his way to rushing for 1,188 yards on 187 carries with 14 touchdowns.

“We know they can run the football. Their quarterback throws a good short game but struggles a bit when he goes deep,” Hurtado said. “He has a nice target to throw in Tim Miller and they are pretty balanced offensively. I expect this to be a really good game.”

Along with needing to stop Fresno’s running game Lindsay will also need to focus on locking down the Eagles 6-foot-3 senior wideout. Miller averaged 16 yards per reception in the regular season and is Endicott’s favorite target in the passing game. He heads into the postseason leading the Eagles in receiving with a total of 756 yards and 12 touchdowns on 47 receptions.

Hurtado believes that they must stop the Eagles rushing attack first if Lindsay, which is hosting just its third home playoff game in school history, is to move on to the quarterfinals.

“Stopping the running game is key for us. If we can force them to start throwing, it will play into our strengths,” Hurtado said. “Strong running teams are the teams we have struggled against, but if we force them to pass we can utilizes the speed in our secondary.”