Carroll Academy football coach Bo Milton has told his team that they need to have a bully mentality on offense.
The Rebels seem to have embraced that concept.
The Rebels ran for 392 yards as they crushed rival Kirk Academy 33-7 on Friday night to improve to 3-0 on the season.
“I was pleased,” Milton said with the win over Class AAA Kirk. “I thought we did what we set out to do. We controlled the temp and ran the football. I thought we had a good, complete game in all phases. I thought all three phases did a good job.”
Not only did the Carroll offense run roughshod over the visiting Raiders, the defense tightened up after giving up an opening-drive touchdown to the Raiders.
“I thought we defended the pass very well,” Milton said. “We kept them underneath and had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. That was really good for our defense. I thought they were ready to go and I thought the scheme was really good.”
The Rebels got the ball to open the game and wasted little time getting down the field as they marched 70 yards in seven plays with Morgan Mims hitting Gavin Wiltshire on a 38-yard pass to put Carroll in the red zone. Jeb Beck finished off the drive with a six-yard touchdown run. The try for two failed, and Carroll led 6-0.
Kirk responded with a six-play, 61-yard drive as they scored on a 20-yard run. The PAT was good and Kirk held a 7-6 lead.
But it didn’t last very long as Beck scored on a 70-yard run on the Rebels very next play. The try for two failed, and Carroll led 12-7.
After forcing a Kirk punt, Carroll went on another long drive as they marched 74-yards in 11 plays as Beck scored on a five-yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Mims hit Reese Fulton for the two-point conversion and Carroll led 20-7.
Kirk came back with a nine-play drive but the Carroll defense held inside their own 10 and stopped the Raiders on fourth and goal.
Carroll needed just six plays to drive 93 yards. After Hunter Bracken ripped off a 41-yard run, he finished off the drive with a five-yard run. The PAT was good and Carroll led 27-7.
Logan Taylor ended the half on a good note for the Rebels with an interception.
After forcing Kirk to punt to start the second half, the Rebels put the game away as they went on a six-play, 82-yard drive that Brackin finished off with a 49-yard run to make the score 33-7.
Beck finished the night with 192 yards rushing on 26 carries and three touchdowns while Brackin had 120 yards on 12 carries. Mims finished with 90 yards on eight carries.
“We had 392 yards rushing and went in thinking that we were going to have to throw the ball,” Milton said. “We only called four pass plays all night. I thought offensively, we came down hill and did a great job up front. We had both back with over 100 yards rushing and Morgan had 90. We have talked about wanting to be a bully and pound at people and I thought we did that against Kirk.
“I thought Jeb ran as well as he has ran all year long. I told him we were going to hand it off to him until he got tired. And we have been able to hit some big plays in our passing game and that just helps loosen up the defense.”
Wiltshire finished the night with an interception and a fumble recovery while Logan Taylor had five tackles and an interception. Brackin had six tackles while Fulton added six tackles.
The Rebels will hit the road to take on Newton County Academy Friday night.
The Generals are 0-3 on the season with losses to Winston (29-14), Oak Hill, (9-7) and Sylva Bay (46-14).
“I think they are still trying to find their identity,” Milton said. “They are still trying to find out who they are on offense. I know they have played some good football teams and took a tough loss to Sylva Bay who is pretty good.”
Last year, the Generals took a 21-7 win over the Rebels.
