Football | Big 2nd half leads Eisenhower past Argo

By Mike Walsh
Correspondent

One Argo player wore purple spikes. Another had a purple sleeve on his right arm. All the players wore tape of that color on their wrists.

The Argonauts donned purple for their South Suburban Red matchup with Eisenhower on Sept. 29 to honor the life of Phillip Rossburg Sr., who died the day before at age 61. Rossburg’s son, Phil, is the Argonauts’ head coach.

The elder Rossburg’s favorite musical artist was Prince — known for his love of purple — and the Argonauts players wished to honor his memory.

Phil Rossburg paid tribute to his dad with a strip of thin purple cloth wrapped around his right wrist, while his family also was clad in purple apparel. Phil also wore a black t-shirt with his dad’s full name — Phillip Frank — emblazoned on the chest.

While the Argonauts lost to the visiting Cardinals, 32-21, Rossburg had nothing but praise for his team’s performance.

“The biggest thing when I came here was learning how to change the culture,” Rossburg said. “We preach to the team about hard work and resiliency and we showed that to the kids.

“Life is about resiliency, and character and we showed that against a really good, really athletic football team. This is what [his dad] wanted, was for me to coach tonight. I wish the kids could have pulled it off.

After a scoreless first quarter, running back Steve Holmes (20 carries, 79 yards) gave the Argonauts (4-2, 2-2) a 7-0 lead at intermission as he capped a seven-play, 58-yard drive with a 6-yard TD run with 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Kacper Lobas tacked on the PAT kick.

The Cardinals scored three times in the third quarter. Ike quarterback Nick Mayfield found a leaping AJ Abrams (5 receptions, 132 yards) for a 22-yard TD strike, and the duo collaborated again on a 58-yard TD pass. On the latter play, Abrams – the reigning South Suburban Red Conference basketball player of the year – broke two tackles while reversing his field before sprinting down the right sideline, making it 20-7.

Argo drew to within 20-13 with 8:05 to play in the fourth quarter as quarterback Ryan Edwards (12-of-19 passing, 186 yards) found Javoris Cotton, who made a sweet over-the-shoulder catch for an 18-yard touchdown.

A 6-yard TD run by Antonio Russell (21 carries, 152 yards) and a 53-yard interception return for a score by Nate Smith — who had two picks on the night — accounted for the Cardinals’ final points.

Edwards connected with Cotton (6 catches, 111 yards) on a 60-yard TD toss with 2:03 remaining. Cotton added the 2-point conversion run, accounting for the final score.