FORRESTON - The Cardinals twice rallied from behind, then hung on to edge Warren 26-20 in high school NUIC football Friday night.

Justin Ruter recovered a fumbled punt midway through the fourth quarter. Mike Hoeft (132 yards on 18 carries) scored his second touchdown on a 14-yard run a few minutes later to give the Cardinals (3-2) their winning 26-20 margin.

Warren (0-5) responded by driving to the Forreston 3, where the Cardinals made a goal-line stand.

Andrew Ballard (129 yards on 26 carries) combined with Hoeft to give the Cardinals a tough 1-2 punch on the ground. Warren countered with the pass. Jeff Steele had 152 yards receiving, while Charles Deneen had 77 and Jason Brinkmeier 49.

“They had more speed and size at wide receiver and a great quarterback,” Forreston coach Dennis Diduch said. “We had two great running backs and a strong line.

“Warren wasn’t giving us anything easy. It was a dogfight from the beginning.”

-rrstar.com