Eudora ? His shoulder has been dislocated “four or five times.” He has a tender hamstring. And he has been plagued by sprained ankles.

But Luke Abel was ready, willing and able Friday night, rushing for 195 yards and three touchdowns to fuel Eudora High to a 39-24 victory over De Soto in Frontier League football.

“If his ankles were better, we would have used him more during the first four games,” Eudora coach Gregg Webb said. “But we limited his touches to 13 to 15 a game.”

Abel, a 5-foot-9, 152-pound senior, had 23 carries Friday night as the Cardinals remained unbeaten in six starts, and Webb made it clear Abel was a horse the Cardinals could ride hard during the next three weeks of district competition.

“We’ll give it to him every play if we need to,” Webb said. “If you give it to him 70 times, he’ll be happy.”

For his part, Abel dished obligatory praise to his offensive line as well as a pat on the back to his head coach.

“I didn’t have the greatest practice this week,” Abel said. “But coach got the message to us that we needed to play better.”

Actually, Webb said, he was peeved only by Thursday’s drills.

“I think we had a decent week until yesterday,” he said. “Then I was a little intense with them. We were not very sharp.”

Nevertheless, the Cardinals were plenty sharp Friday night, dominating the Wildcats for three quarters while building a 39-0 lead that included touchdown runs of 66, 26 and five yards by Abel.

The Cards’ overall performance was a far cry from last year, when the ‘Cats posted a 12-7 victory in De Soto.

“Our kids were a little better than their kids tonight,” Webb said. “Basically, that’s what it was, but you never know. Everything worked tonight. Last year, nothing would work against them. It was about the most frustrating night of my life.”

The score may have been even more lopsided Friday if Webb hadn’t pulled his starters in the fourth quarter. With the starters on the bench, De Soto (4-1) took advantage of two Eudora fumbles and a blocked punt to score three touchdowns in less than four minutes.

• 6Sports video: Cardinals still undefeated (10-07-05)

De Soto coach Brad Scott lamented the absence of Neil Erisman, a multi-purpose back who has signed a wrestling letter of intent with Oklahoma State and was making his official visit this weekend to Stillwater, Okla.

“We’re just not the same team without him,” Scott said. “We can’t lose that kind of talent.”

Eudora 39, De Soto 24

De Soto – 0 – 0 – 0 – 24 – – 24

Eudora – 12 – 13 – 14 – 0 – – 39

Eudora – Luke Abel 26 run (run failed)

Eudora – James Mills 41 fumble return (run failed)

Eudora – L. Abel 5 run (kick failed)

Eudora – Rodney Spillman 14 pass from Kyle Brouhard (Nolan Smith kick)

Eudora – Brouhard 1 run (Smith run)

Eudora – L. Abel 66 run (run failed)

De Soto – Shane Miller 21 run (Andrew DeGraeve pass from Jake Morse)

De Soto – Austin Bills 20 run (DeGraeve pass from Morse)

De Soto – DeGraeve 35 pass from Morse (Erik Hill pass from Morse)