The Harmony Grove Cardinals (4-2 1-2) are coming off a sour loss after falling to Jessieville 29-26 in Week 6. After routing Bismarck in Week 5 and losing a 3-point game to No. 3 Glen Rose in Week 4, the Cardinals hoped for a better outcome in Jessieville.
“We had so many mistakes and self-inflicted wounds,” said Head Coach Paul Calley. “We had a few guys go down in key positions and that didn’t help us and (Jessieville) played keep away from us all night.
“Every time we had it we moved it and scored. We just didn’t have it much. We did some things that were uncharacteristic.”
Harmony Grove turns its attention to Week 7 when it plays host to Centerpoint at Sykes Stadium in Haskell.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Centerpoint shut out 5-3A foe Gurdon in Week 6 and was victorious against the Cardinals at home in 2015.
Calley was not happy with the officiating in Jessieville, but didn't blame the loss on the officials.
“I’ll go ahead and take my fine from AAA (Arkansas Activities Association) because the officiating was horrid, horrid, horrid,” Calley said. “It was ridiculous. Two of the scores (Jessieville) got were due to two fourth-and-long penalties that were fantasies. I don’t know.”
Calley added that despite the penalties, his team should have never been in that situation.
The Cardinals allowed the Lions to recover two crucial onside kicks in the loss, something Calley was not pleased with at all.
“That is inexcusable,” Calley said. “Blame me. It’s my fault because we didn’t practice it enough. We thought we had practiced it enough, but obviously we didn’t.”