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On a clear night at Cardinal Stadium, big special team plays and solid defense helped the Landrum Cardinals (2-2) roll to a big win with a final score of 56-20 over the Spartanburg Christian Warriors (2-2). 

After two tough losses to former conference rival St. Joseph’s and Thermal Belt rival Polk County, Coach Jason Farmer’s team rebounded with an impressive performance in all three phases of the game, building a big enough lead at halftime to activate the new “mercy” rule. This running clock limits the number of stoppages in the game once a team has built a 42-point lead. 

After back-to-back stops by the defense, Junior Braden Mashtare started the scoring for the Cardinals with a 65-yard punt return touchdown. Soon after, a well-executed drive ended with a one-yard touchdown dive from Ronnie Belue, who also made big plays on the defensive side of the ball with several big tackles in the first quarter. The Warriors fought back for their only touchdown of the first half to make it 6-14 but failed to convert the two-point conversion. 

Running Back Colton Link took the Warrior’s kickoff 80-yards for a touchdown and followed it up with a one-yard touchdown soon, set up by long runs from Link and Quarterback Titus Poore. Poore added a touchdown pass, and the teams traded fumbles before Colton Link scored his third touchdown of the night to make the score 42-6 with fifty-two seconds to go in the half. 

Linebacker Andrew McPeters added an interception return for a touchdown to activate the mercy rule, and kicker Eli Graham tacked on one of his eight extra points to give Landrum a 49-6 halftime lead. 

In the second half, Junior running back Sam Smith finished the Cardinal’s scoring with a sixty-five-yarder. Spartanburg Christian scored twice more for a final of 56-20.

This Friday, September 23, the Cardinals will travel down Highway 14 for a 7:30 p.m.road game against the Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers (2-3). The Fighting Tigers are coming off a 25-35 loss to the Wade Hampton Generals.