The Carroll Academy offensive woes continued on Friday night as the Rebels were shut out for the first time since the opening game of last season.
Marshall used a stifling defense and limited the Rebels to 211 yards of total offense in a 19-0 win.
Carroll falls to 1-6 on the season and will travel to North Delta this week.
Carroll coach Bo Milton said his team didn’t play bad but just couldn’t get enough going on offense against a good Marshall squad.
“It was a defensive struggle till midway through the third quarter,” Milton said. “Our kids didn’t quit and fought all the way to the end. We just can’t seem to catch a break right now. They put the ball on the ground several times and we had a chance at a couple of interceptions. The kids are playing hard eery week, we just can’t seem to get a break.”
The first half was almost nothing but defense until Marshall scored midway through the second quarter. The Patriots went 57 yards in eight plays and scored on a 5-yard run to take a 7-0 lead at the half.
“They have gotten some new players in this year and they made a big difference,” Milton said. “We are playing with our kids, who are Carroll kids. We will keep working and hopefully something good will happen. Now, it didn’t help that Cohen got injured. He came out in the second quarter and that hurt us. We had some moments but just couldn’t capitalize on any of them.”
The Rebels punted twice, turned it over on downs twice and lost a fumble in the half.
In the second half, Carroll got the ball to start and punted the first three times they had the ball. Marshall finally extended its lead on its third possession as the Patriots went 77 yards in 15 plays, scoring on a 4-yard run. The PAT was blocked and the Patriots led 13-0.
After the Rebels turned it over on downs at the Marshall 25, the Patriots put together another long drive, going 75 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 13-yard run late in the fourth quarter. The PAT failed for the final margin of 19-0.
“I thought we played really good till a few minutes left in the game,” Milton said. “We just got tired. We are playing eight guys both ways but that’s just part of it and where we are at right now. We were on the field a lot on defense. We didn’t have the ball a whole lot. We had lots of three and outs on offense and just couldn’t get anything going.”
The Rebels struggled on offense with just 71 yards rushing on 33 carries and 140 yards passing for 211 yards of total offense.
Logan Upchurch was 12-of-20 passing for 140 yards. Owen Garrett had two catches for 44 yards while Reed Thomas had 33 yards on five catches. Cohen Blaylock led the rushing attack with 35 yards on eight carries while Nathan Matth4ews had 32 yards on 16 carries.
On defense, Gage Ray led the Rebels with 15 tackles while Matthews had 14 stops. Reid Blaylock also had 10 tackles.
This week’s game
The Rebels will hit the road this week as they travel to North Delta to take on the Green Wave.
North Delta is 5-3 on the season with wins over Indianola (43-13), Benton (47-14), Strayhorn (35-7), Lee (20-78) and West Memphis (42-8). They have losses to Magnolia Heights (56-20), Marshall (28-0) and Winona Christian (42-21).
“I think it’s a good matchup for us,” Milton said. “They try to get to the line quick and run right at you. We got a good look at it in junior high and I thought we did a good job against it. I feel like we will be OK there.”
