Carroll Academy fell behind for the second straight week, and the Rebels fought back to get a win for the second straight week.
Carroll got three rushing touchdowns from Brennan Blaylock and rallied to take a 28-14 win over Bowling Green on Friday night in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Carroll improved to 7-4 on the season and will travel to Greenville St. Joseph on Friday in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Coach Bo Milton said his team responded again to pick up their fourth straight win.
“We had the same conversation we had last week,” Milton said. “We haven’t played well early in the game, but our kids responded well. It’s playoff football and we are who we are. We aren’t going to put up a lot of points. But if we can score three or four touchdowns, we are going to be right there. I thought we did a good job, and the effort was there. Our kids didn’t panic but we have learned to play from behind. I thought we were able to do some things the passing game and kept them honest. I thought we did a good job of keeping them off balance. It was a good win.”
The Rebels started slow as they turned the ball over on downs on their first possession and lost a fumble on their second possession. Bowling Green took advantage of the fumble and went 53 yards in four plays and scored on a 32-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good, and the Buccaneers led 7-0.
But Carroll answered right back with a six play, 58-yard drive as Brennan Blaylock scored on a 20-yard run. Blaylock also hit the PAT to tie the game at 7-7.
The Buccaneers responded with another big play as they went 74 yards in seven plays and scored on a 42-yard run. The PAT was good, and Bowling Green led 14-7.
The score stayed that way until the end of the second quarter when the Rebels went 55 yards in eight plays as Blaylock scored on a 3-yard run. Blaylock hit the PAT and Carroll tied the game at 14-14 at the half.
Bowling Green got the ball to start the second half and put together a 13-play drive before turning it over on downs at the Carroll 25. The Rebels then went 75 yards in 10 plays as Blaylock scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper. Blaylock hit the PAT, and the Rebels took a 21-14 lead.
Bowling Green was driving down to tie the game as they put together a nine-play drive but fumbled and Noah Beck scooped it up and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown with 8:45 left in the game. Blaylock’s PAT gave Carroll a 28-14 lead.
“The scoop and score was really big,” Milton said. “Once they got behind, they had to throw. Defensively, we kind of settled down in the second half and have been more consistent there. They hit some early runs and were really scrappy. But we settled down in the second half and were able to make them do some things that they didn’t really like to do. That wing-T stuff is hard to simulate in practice and hard to prepare for in two days.”
The Rebels had 162 yards rushing and 125 passing for 287 yards of total offense.
Blaylock was 9-of-20 passing for 125 yards and the senior quarterback also rushed for 72 yards and three TDs on nine carries. Maddox Carpenter had 84 yards rushing on 16 carries and one catch for 31 yards. Noah Beck had four catches for 55 yards while Drake Dunn had three catches for 30 yards.
On defense, Lofton Holly had 13 tackles while Carpenter had 10 tackles. Reid Blaylock had eight tackles while Nathan Matthews had eight tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Noah Beck also had six tackles and an 84-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.
This week’s game
The Rebels advance to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs as they travel to Greenville to take on No. 2 seed St. Joseph.
The Irish are 8-1 on the season with their lone loss coming to Jackson Prep (41-12). The Irish have won seven straight, since that early-season loss, including a 52-16 win over Carroll in week 5 of the season.
“We aren’t looking for moral victories or just to play them close, we are going to try to win the game,” Milton said. “A lot of things have to go right, and I think they can do it. I think our kids believe. We played them early the year and were playing very inconsistent at the time. I think we have been a lot more consistent in the last part of the season.”
