Tommy Acy isn’t sure he’s ever been involved in a game quite like the one his Carroll Academy football team played last Friday night against Regents School of Oxford.
The Rebels survived to pull out a 60-58 win over the Lions, who slip to 0-3 on the season. Carroll (3-1) hits the road this week to play Lee Academy in Clarksdale. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday.
“It’s like we went brain dead on defense,” Acy said. “They saw something in our defense and were making plays on simple bubble screens. Regents is one of the most athletic teams we will face. I think they are playing with only two seniors. They are going to be extremely good in a year. We couldn’t stop their quarterback (Zane Hill). They were very explosive on offense.
“One positive for us is that we broke a record at Carroll by putting up 60 points. I was told the previous record was 59 points. I just wish we hadn’t given up 58 points.”
Two key Carroll starters went down with injuries midway through the game. Senior running back Cohen Blaylock suffered a hamstring injury, and Hayes White had a severe ankle injury.
“Neither one of them will get much practice time this week, and it will be a game-time decision if they play,” Acy said.
Blaylock also plays linebacker on defense, and White lines up at H-back or tight end on offense. Before Blaylock went out of the game in the second period, he had rushed for 34 yards on three carries. He scored two touchdowns in the second quarter on an 85-yard kickoff return and a 70-yard catch-and-run pass from quarterback Collin Hurst.
Hurst put Carroll on the scoreboard first with a 39-yard run in the opening frame. Logan Upchurch booted the PAT to make it 7-0.
The second quarter is when the fireworks started. The Rebels managed to outscore Regents 27-24 for a 34-24 lead at the half.
Jake Truitt had a 10-yard scoring jaunt, and Hurst scored from six yards out. Truitt also had a 2-point conversion run, and Upchurch kicked one extra point to give CA its 10-point advantage.
“Our plan was to get the ball to start the third quarter, go down and score and then hold them on defense,” said Acy. “We did score first to go up by 16 (40-24), but Regents didn’t quit. They scored two more times in the third and only trailed by eight going into the fourth.”
In the third frame, Hurst connected with Upchurch for a 25-yard TD pass and hit Reed Thomas from 14 yards out to make it 46-30 before the Lions scored to cut it to eight headed to the fourth.
Regents outscored Carroll 20-14 in the fourth period. Hurst ran in from 60 yards out and threw a 2-point pass to Thomas. Hurst also had a 3-yard run to give the Rebels a 60-44 lead. However, the Lions got two more touchdowns and one 2-point conversion to make it interesting.
“Collin and Jake really stepped up to carry the load after Cohen went down,” said Acy. “Reed did a good job at receiver, and Jack (Grones) played really well on defense.”
Hurst finished with 168 yards on 16 carries and completed 7-of-11 passes for 200 yards with three TDs. Thomas had three grabs for 35 yards, and White had a catch for 70 yards.
Grones led the defense with 11 tackles (three solos), and Truitt had seven stops (two solos).
The Rebels’ opponent Friday, Lee, is going to run the football.
“They run the ball, and they run it well,” said Acy. “Our defense is going to have to step up to the challenge. They use the double-wing formation, so there is always three guys who could get the football.”
