After suffering its first loss to Magnolia Heights, Carroll has looked to rebound against Clinton Christian.
The Warriors had a different idea as they took advantage of a struggling Carroll offense and took a 34-14 win over the Rebels on Friday night.
Carroll falls to 2-2 on the season will hit the road and play at Greenville St. Joseph on Friday night.
It was a disappointing loss for the Rebels, who committed three first-half turnovers and fell behind 27-0.
“It was just too many mistakes and missed opportunities,” Milton said. “I thought the defense played well in the first half. We missed a wide-open receiver and maybe it’s 14-7 and a different game. Then we had an interception and a fumble at the end of the half. We just have to find a way not to shoot ourselves in the foot. In hindsight, we should have run the ball more, but it’s easy to look back and say what you should have done. We just have to pull it all together.”
The Warriors received the opening kick and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was good and Clinton led 7-0 with 11:45 left in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Carroll offense struggled with four straight three and outs. Clinton finally broke through in the second. After keeping the ball on a roughing the punter call, the Warriors found the end zone on a 37-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good, and Clinton led 14-0.
Carroll had a shot at the end zone on the next drive but missed an open receiver and turned the ball over on downs. Carroll then lost the ball on a fumble on the next drive and then threw an interception that Clinton returned 55 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.
Two plays later, Carroll fumbled on the Clinton 8, and the Warriors immediately scored and took a 26-0 halftime lead.
“Offensively, we didn’t block anybody,” Milton said. “We were going to run the ball first and we didn’t do a good job of blocking. We have to fix that quickly. They were in a 5-2 and rolling the safety down in the box and had eight men in the box and manned us up and forced us to do some things. We just couldn’t make the plays.”
Carroll got the ball to start the second half and went 70 yards in 10 plays, scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mathis Beck. The try-for-two failed, and Carroll trailed 27-6.
The Carroll offense stalled again, and Clinton Christian extended the lead with a 45-yard touchdown run in the fourth to go up 36-8.
Carroll added one last score as Brennan Blaylock scored on a 3-yard run. Blaylock hit Drake Dunn on the two-point conversion for the final margin.
“We had some shots and just didn’t hit them,” Milton said. “We can’t seem to buy a break and keep shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s not that we aren’t trying. We just have to figure out how to get it in the end zone. We have had two bad halves. Now we have to get it fixed and get ready for district play.”
The Rebels had 106 yards rushing and 97 passing for 203 total yards. Blaylock had 44 yards rushing on 10 carries while Mathis Beck had 33 yards on 13 carries. Maddox Carpenter had 23 yards rushing on eight carries.
Blaylock was 6-of-12 passing for 97 yards for one touchdown and one interception.
This week’s game
The Rebels will try to get back on track as they face Greenville St. Joseph.
The Irish are 2-1 on the season. After a 55-0 win over Riverside to open the season, they lost 41-12 to Jackson Prep. Last week, they beat Indianola 46-13.
“They are very similar to what we saw this past week,” Milton said. “Defensively, we did what we had to do to stay in the that game. We have to figure out out what’s going on with our offense. I know their starting 11 is as good as anybody. They are not as deep with their skill kids. We aren’t real deep either.”
Last year, St. Joseph won 36-0.
