KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Eudora High’s football players scooted through the mud like a Panzer division. The Cardinals never punted. And yet Eudora struggled to a 20-6 Class 4A district football victory over Kansas City Ward on Friday night.

Eudora tamed the mud, but the Cards couldn’t keep the yellow flags in the officials’ pockets.

Sixteen times Eudora was penalized. Total yardage lost: 120.

“It was unbelievable,” Eudora coach Gregg Webb said. “We’ve got to do a better job. We’ve killed ourselves with penalties so many times, so many times.”

Typical was the Cards’ first drive of the second half. They were penalized three times for holding and once for illegal procedure. That’s 35 yards on one march alone.

As it was, the Cardinals made three first-half touchdowns stand up Eudora was flagged only four times for 25 yards before the break against the Cyclones, who scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, but were otherwise dominated.

Eudora ran the ball 70 times for 441 yards. Tailback Andrew Pyle, who scored two TDs on short runs, finished with 207 yards on 39 carries. Fullback Tyler Jackson carried 15 times for 135 yards, including a 21-yard second-quarter TD gallop. And quarterback Tyler Cleveland chipped in with 93 yards on 14 totes.

No telling how dominant the Cards would have been on dirt.

“I would have liked to have seen our kids run our stuff on a dry field,” Webb said, “but it also hurt (Ward) on pass plays.”

The Cyclones’ running game was virtually non-existent, and quarterback John Breitenstein completed only eight of 25 passing attempts for 112 yards and had two intercepted (by Pyle and Luke Powers).

“They were slipping and we were slipping,” Eudora QB Cleveland said. “We had just as much trouble as they did.”

Eudora quarterback Tyler Cleveland, left, gets away from KC Ward's Will Taylor. The Cardinals beat Ward, 20-6, on Friday in Kansas City, Kan.

Eudora’s real trouble was the penalties.

“Everybody needs to calm down and relax,” Cleveland said about the snowballing flags.

Echoed tackle Dustin Moyer, a tri-captain: “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot. We had good drives and we were moving the ball pretty good. We’ll have to play better next week.”

Next Thursday, the Cardinals (7-1) will tangle with Mill Valley (8-0) in the regular-season and district finale.

Webb said, the Cardinals need to understand flag-throwing isn’t personal. It’s strictly business.

“Our guys whine about it,” Webb said. “They think the officials are out to get them. They have to focus.”

Eudora 20, Kansas City Ward 6

Eudora 14 6 0 0 20

KC Ward 0 0 0 6 6

Eudora Andrew Pyle 1 run. (Kaleb Niedens kick)

Eudora Pyle 3 run. (Niedens kick)

Eudora Tyler Jackson 21 run. (kick blocked)

KC Ward Brad Wiss 14 pass from John Breitenstein (Wiss kick blocked)

Sports editor Chuck Woodling can be reached at 832-7147.