The Carroll defense pitched their second shutout of the season as they pounded Tunica 36-0 for their seventh win of the season.
The Rebels improve to 7-2 with the win and will host Central Holmes on Friday night for the regular-season finale.
Despite the final score, Carroll coach Bo Milton found a few things his team could have done better.
“It was a solid game but we could have played better,” Milton said. “We played well early but took our foot off the petal. I thought the defense had a good stand in the first half and that sort of took the life out of them. I thought we played pretty good in every aspect of the game. I was pleased overall. I just thought it was a good, solid performance from our team.”
The Blue Devils got the ball to start the game and fumbled on the second play as Carroll’s Hunter Brower came up with the recovery.
The Rebels then went 61 yards in five plays. Morgan Mims ripped off a 35-yard drive and then finished off the drive with a 1-yard run. Mims then hit Reese Fulton on the two-point conversion to give Carroll an 8-0 lead.
After a Tunica punt, the Rebels went 85 yards in eight plays. Mims hit Fulton on a 20-yard pass on the drive and finished it off with a 15-yard run. Mims hit Fulton on the two-point conversion and the Rebels led 16-0 late in the first quarter.
The Blue Devils drove down deep in Carroll territory on the next possession but the drive stalled as the Rebels turned Tunica over on downs at their own 3.
From there the Rebels were forced to punt and lost a fumble as they took a 16-0 lead into the half.
“We would have liked to have gotten some people some more touches early but it didn’t work out that way,” Milton said. “I thought the defense played lights out and was very physical. I thought they were physical stopping the run game. Even though we didn’t play that well on offense in the first half, we finished them off in the second half.”
Carroll got the ball to start the second half and was forced to punt. But the Blue Devils fumbled the ball on their first play of the half.
From there, the Rebels started to take over as they went 17 yards in three plays as Lofton Holly scored on a 3-yard run. The try for two failed and Carroll led 22-0.
Tunica gave Carroll some good field position on the next series as a fake punt failed. Carroll then went 29 yards in four plays as Mims scored on a 7-yard quarterback sneak. The try for two failed and Carroll led 28-0.
The Rebels added its last score in the fourth quarter as Mathis Beck scored on a 5-yard run. Maddox Carpenter ran in the two-point conversion for the final margin of 36-0.
The Rebels had 286 yards rushing and 41 passing for 327 yards of total offense. Mims had 132 yards rushing on 12 carries and two TDs and was 4-of-7 passing for 41 yards. Holly had 85 yards rushing on 12 carries while Carpenter had 57 yards on six carries. Fulton had three catches for 31 yards.
