In wet field conditions generally the team able to run the football the best comes away with the win.
That was certainly the case on Friday night as Carroll Academy used a punishing rushing attack to beat Central Holmes 18-7.
Central Holmes falls to 6-4 on the season while Carroll improves to 8-2 on the season. The Trojans finished the season at the No. 9 seed in the Class 3A playoffs and will make the trip to Glenbrook, La., for the first round of the playoffs. Carroll finished as the No. 5 seed and will play No. 12 seed Newton County Academy in the first round of the playoffs.
Carroll head coach Bo Milton said he thought the wet field conditions played to the Rebels’ favor.
“It was some tough conditions and I thought we handled it okay,” Milton said. “I thought we did a good job of protecting the football and doing what we do. There wasn’t a turnover between the two teams. That was something that we talked about during the week. I appreciate when they run hard but they also need to know when to go down.”
Carroll got the ball to start the game and went 67 yards in four plays as Morgan Mims scored the game’s first points on a 56-yard run. The try for two failed and Carroll led 6-0.
Central Holmes responded with its best drive of the game as they went 62 yards in nine plays as Jace Dean scored on a 1-yard run with 5:06 left in the first quarter. Owen O’Bryant booted the PAT and Central Holmes took a 7-6 lead.
Carroll then took the ensuing kick and went on an 11-play, 66-yard drive as Mims capped off the drive with a 2-yard run. The try for two failed and Carroll led 12-7, a score that stood until halftime.
I was proud of the defense,” Milton said. “After their first drive, I thought we dominated the game. Their running back wasn’t a factor at all. I thought we did a good job of hemming him up and never let him get going. They hit us on a couple of pass plays and those are some things that we need to clean up. But overall, I thought we controlled the game on the defensive side of the football.”
The Trojans punted on their first two possessions before Carroll scored its last touchdown. Mims got his third touchdown of the game as he scored on a 70-yard run. The try for the two point conversion failed for the final margin of 18-7.
The Rebels had 312 yards of total offense as Mims had 183 yards on 21 carries with three TDs. Lofton Holly had 127 yards on 20 carries. Logan Taylor led the Carroll defense with five tackles while Cooper Beck had four tackles, three for a loss and one sack. John Marc O’Cain also had two sacks.
