Everyone knows about the high-powered Carroll Academy offense and their abundance of skilled players.
Winona Christian got a first-hand look at them on Friday as the Rebels cruised to a 42-6 win over the Stars in the season opener for both teams.
Carroll will now travel to Kirk Academy while Winona Christian will travel to French Camp Academy this week.
Carroll coach Bo Milton said his senior-laden skill players had a big game as they rolled up 405 yards of total offense with four different players finding the end zone.
“I thought we played well and our kids got after it,” Milton said. “We made a few mistakes and I thought Winona had a good game plan. We had the ball five times in the first half and scored three times. I thought the offense was pretty consistent and spread the ball around. They all had a good number of touches. Three of them were all around that 90-yard mark until Mathis ripped off the big run at the end. They are all capable of hitting that big play at any time. It could be any of those guys.”
Winona got the ball to start the game and immediately forced a punt. The Rebels then went 62 yards in nine plays as Brennan Blaylock threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Maddox Carpenter on fourth down with 7:34 left in the first quarter. Blaylock booted the PAT and Carroll led 7-0, a score that held through the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Carroll got rolling again and went 64 yards in five plays. After a 28-yard gainer by Mathis Beck, Blaylock called his own number and scored on a 20-yard touchdown run with 9:21 left in the second quarter. Blaylock booted the PAT and Carroll led 14-0.
The Carroll defense got another stop and got a short field this time, starting at the Winona 32. The Rebels then capped off the drive as Mathis Beck scored on a 6-yard touchdown run with 4:34 left in the first half. Beck ran in the two-point conversion and Carroll held a 22-0 lead.
Winona scored its only touchdown before the end of the half as Brannon Hill hit Collin Parkinson on a short TD pass. The PAT and Carroll led 22-6 at the half.
“We knew how good they were with their skill guys,” WCS coach Ken Chandler said. “We missed a lot of tackles and played too high with our pad level. Everybody is playing high, the line is high, we are tackling high. We are not a good tackling team right now. But there were some post. We moved the ball OK but had three turnovers. We let them get some good returns and that gave the a few short fields.”
Carroll punted on its first possession of the second half and on its second possession, drove down inside the Winona 10 before turning the ball over on downs. But, Winona gave the ball right back on an interception by Brennan Blaylock. Lofton Holly then scored on the next play with 7:01 left in the third. The PAT attempt failed and Carroll led 28-6.
The Rebels tacked on two more scores as Maddox Carpenter scored on an 18-yard run in the third and Mathis Beck on a 65-yard run in the fourth for the final margin of 42-6.
Carroll had 356 yards rushing and 49 passing for 405 total yards. Mathis Beck led the offense with 162 yards on nine carries and two TDs. Carpenter had 12 carries for 91 yards while Holly had 68 yards on 10 carries.
Winona had 192 yards of total offense with 112 rushing and 80 passing. Hill was 6-of-13 for 80 yards while Trace Carpenter had three catches for 75 yards. Jake Ware had 21 carries for 70 yards rushing while Hill had seven carries for 33 yards. Ware also had 96 yards on returns.
Parkinson and Sam Thompson led the WCS defense with four solo tackles and two assists while Will Irwin had a sack.
This week’s games
The Rebels will hit the road this week as they travel to Kirk Academy and take on the Raiders.
Last year, Kirk took a 20-8 win over Carroll and finished as runners-up in Class 4A, losing 44-22 to Tri-County Academy in the title game.
But Milton said there are a different set of Raiders this season. Kirk lost 32-3 to Pillow Academy last week.
“They are down and lost 24 seniors from last year’s team,” Milton said. “They have a new coaching staff and are trying to figure things out. They played hard against Pillow but looked outmatched. Hopefully we can go up there and show the improvement you like to see from week 1 to week 2 and that’s what I’m looking for.”
Winona Christian will travel to French Camp to take on the Panthers. The two teams did not play last year.
“We don’t have any film on them,” Chandler said. “I have been friends with Coach (Nathan) Wright for a long time. They haven’t don’t anything as far as a preseason is concerned. I know he’s an even front guys and he likes to run the football. Probably the most important thing is we will work on us and fix our mistakes. Our defensive line was high and we tackled too high. This week will be as much about us as it is working on French Camp.”
