It took the Carroll Academy Rebels a little while to get going on Friday night at Benton Academy. But once they did, there was little Benton could do to stop them.
The Rebels took a 12-0 lead into the half and then scored 26 second-half points to hammer Benton Academy 38-0 on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
The Rebels had 287 yards of total offense with 217 on the ground and 50 in the air.
“Once we got it rolling, things went well,” Carroll coach Bo Milton said. “It was kind of sloppy to start the game. I thought their kids played hard and that was part of it. But we starting hitting some big plays and that sort of separated us. We hit the big play at the end of the half and that took a lot of wind out of them.”
It was late in the first quarter before Carroll found the scoreboard as Jeb Beck finished off an 11-play, 65-yard drive with a 2-yard run. The PAT failed and Carroll led 6-0.
The Raiders were able to keep the score at 6-0 for the majority of the half until the Rebels got the ball back right before the half. That’s when Milton pulled out his book of tricks and scored on a reverse flea-flicker as Morgan Mims hit Gavin Wiltshire on a 35-yard touchdown pass as the half expired. The try for two failed and Carroll led 12-0 at the half.
“I thought as the game went on, the defense got better and better,” Milton said. “I thought we did a good job of tackling and didn’t give up any big plays. I thought we showed improvement across the board. I thought the special teams were good as well, even though we had a touchdown called back.”
The Rebels got the ball to start the second half and on the third play of the half, Hunter Brackeen broke free on a 47-yard TD run. Mims’ PAT was good and Carroll led 19-0.
Two plays later, the Carroll defense got in on the action when Reese Fulton scooped up a fumble and raced 15 yards for a touchdown. The PAT failed and Carroll led 25-0.
“I thought we broke their back in the third quarter,” Milton said. “We scored 26 points there and I was pleased with that. We hit the big play with Hunter and then scored on the fumble by Reese. They were sort of stunned and never recovered from that. I was pleased with our effort and our conditioning in the second half. It was a really good win to open the season with.”
The Rebels added two more scores as Mims hit Fulton on a 3-yard touchdown pass to make it 31-0 and Colton Reed scored on a 50-yard run for the final margin.
The Rebels had 217 yards rushing as Brackeen had 104 yards on nine carries while Beck had 63 yards on 12 carries and Reed had 53 yards on two carries. Mims was 4-of-7 passing for 70 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Fulton led the way with seven tackles and one fumble recovery. Reed had six tackles and a sack while Mims had six tackles.
The Rebels return to action this week as they host Lee, Ark., in the home opener.
“You are supposed to make your biggest improvement from week one to week two,” Milton said. “I know that Lee is really big and has some big kids. They are physical and want to run the power right at you. They are double win and come right at you. We just have to stick our nose in there and be physical this week.”
Lee opened the season with a 21-6 win over Potts Camp. The Cougars were 5-5 last year and lost 20-0 to the Rebels in the season opener.
