Carroll Academy football coach Bo Milton has been telling his team that special teams would eventually win them a game this season.
That was the case on Friday night as Noah Beck’s 79-yard punt return sparked the Rebels, who went on to take a 26-3 win over Indianola.
Carroll improves to 3-3 on the season and will host unbeaten Tri-County Academy on Friday night.
The Rebels were able to get the win despite turning the ball over for times, thanks to the special teams.
“I thought we played hard and didn’t get down when we had some bad things happen,” Milton said. “We had some penalties and turnovers that we fought through that I thought was impressive by our kids. Then we got the big punt return and played a lot better on special teams. I thought we were more diverse and more balanced on offense. I thought Brennan pulling the ball on the zone read made us a lot tougher to defend.”
Carroll put together two solid drives to start the game, going eight plays on each of them. The first ended with a fumble and the second was a turnover on downs.
Indianola then put together a nine-play drive but were forced to punt. The Rebels got the big play as Noah Beck returned the punt 79 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked, and Carroll led 6-0.
The two teams swapped punts, but Indianola muffed their punt and gave Carroll the ball at their 14. Three plays later, Brennan Blaylock hit Noah Beck on an 11-yard touchdown pass. The try for two failed and Carroll led 12-0 at the half.
“We have been preaching that special teams will win games for you,” Milton said. “I thought we were much better in all three phases of the game. The punt return was really big and then we recovered the punt that set up another score. I thought we had a couple of other times that we could have put the game away. But Indianola isn’t going to roll over for anyone.”
In the second half, Carroll didn’t put the game away until late in the fourth quarter when they drove 70 yards in seven plays as Blaylock scored on a 7-yard run with 4:37 left in the game. Blaylock hit the PAT and Carroll led 19-0.
Two plays later, Indianola coughed up a fumble on a bad snap and Mason McCluskey scored on a 41-yard return. Blaylock’s PAT gave Carrol a 26-0 lead.
Carroll had a balanced offensive attack with 190 yards rushing and 168 passing.
Blaylock was 13-of-22 passing for 173 yards with one TD. Noah Beck had seven catches for 100 yards and a TD while Mathis Beck had two catches for 29 yards. Drake Dunn also had two catches for 26 yards.
Maddox Carpenter had 98 yards rushing on 12 carries while Blaylock had 65 yards rushing on nine carries.
Mathis Beck led the defense with eight tackles including two sacks and two tackles for loss. Carpenter and Lofton Holly each had seven tackles apiece while Noah Beck had an interception and Mason McCluskey had fumble recovery for a TD.
This week’s game
Carroll will face another tall task as they take on unbeaten Tri-County.
Tri-County has wins over Indianola (41-0), Bowling Green (49-0), Central Holmes (54-10), Riverfield (26-13), Madison St. Joseph (39-26) and Canton (48-28).
“We have to come out and play a lot better and improve on the things we did right on Friday night,” Milton said.
“They are throwing the ball a lot more right now and still trying to find their identity.”
