It took no time for the Cardinals to take the lead over Lafayette, on a cloudy Friday night.

An outstanding kickoff return by Sophomore Azariah Israel set GRC up with great field position – their own 44. On 2nd down, Quarterback Will Henry handed it off to the leading rusher in the state, Nitavius Thomas, who rumbled down the field for a 56 yard touchdown.

The Cardinals would never lose that lead.

GRC’s defense played their fair share in protecting that lead, holding Lafayette scoreless in the half.

However, early in the second quarter, the game was put on delay because of lightning. After close to an hour of no action, the Cards came back ready to play.

The defense came up big, busting through the line of scrimmage and forcing their first turnover of the night.

Despite the turnover, the Cardinals were incapable of capitalizing and the score remained 7-0.

A few drives later, the defense pushed the Lafayette offense back against their own goal-line. A bad snap on a punt attempt would sail out of the end zone, and result in a safety.

The very next drive for GRC resulted in Henry’s first touchdown pass of the night, and in a matter of seconds, the lead was pushed to 16.

After another great series by the Cardinal defense, GRC got the ball into the end-zone yet again as Henry fired complete to Farris Shakadih for 16 yards.

GRC took a 23-0 lead into the half.

The second half saw much of the same.

A long kick return by the Lafayette special teams unit to start the second half set up the Generals with an easy score.

The defense took over from that point, constantly ravaging the quarterback. The Cardinals were in the backfield seemingly every play, either sacking or pressuring the Lafayette offense.

A field goal late in the fourth quarter put the Cardinals up 26-7, where the score would remain until the final whistle.

For the Cardinals, it was their first win over Lafayette since 2009.

GRC advances to 5-2 on the season, picking up their first district victory since 2014.

The Cardinals will look to pick up their second district win next week at Tates Creek. A win over the Commodores would secure a top 2 finish in the district for the first time since 2014.