The Carroll Academy football team did what they do best on Friday night.
The Rebels punished Hillcrest Christian with a brutal rushing attack and a hard-hitting defense as they took a 58-6 win Hillcrest Christian.
The Rebels improve to 2-0 on the season and will travel to Benton Academy on Friday to take on the 2-0 Raiders in an early District 2-3A contest.
Carroll Coach Bo Milton said his team played well, despite it being an “ugly game.”
“They weren’t real good up front and couldn’t run the football on us,” Milton said. “There were several personal fouls and a couple of players got ejected. The first quarter took 55 minutes. It was an ugly game. The best part is we took care of business. We played hard and got out of there. We were glad to get out of there with a win and keep everybody healthy.”
The Rebels got on the board early as Noah Beck returned a punt 43 yards for a touchdown. Hunter Grantham scored the two-point conversion and Carroll led 8-0.
After an interception by Noah Beck, the Rebels went 48 yards in seven plays as Hunter Brackin scored on a 5-yard run. Maddox Carpenter scored the two-point conversion on the swinging gate as Carroll led 16-0.
After a short Hillcrest punt, the Rebels went 13 yards in three plays as Mathis Beck scored on a 21-yard run. Grantham scored on the two-point conversion, and Carroll led 24-0.
The Cougars got on the board when they scored on a 20-yard pass to cut the lead to 24-6 late in the first.
It was all Carroll from there as the Rebels reeled off three more first-half touchdowns.
Brennan Blaylock scored on a 5-yard run, and Grantham’s PAT was good and Carroll led 31-6.
Brackin recovered the ensuing kickoff for the Rebels. Carroll then went 25 yards in four pays as Lofton Holly scored on a 1-yard run. Grantham’s PAT was good, and Carroll led 38-6.
The Rebels added another score in the first half as Blaylock hit Noah Beck on a 32-yard pass. Grantham’s PAT was good and Carroll led 45-6 at the half.
The Rebels added two second-half touchdowns with a running clock as Holly scored on a 6-yard run and Braxton York scored on a 73-yard run for the final margin.
The Rebels dominated on both sides of the football as they outgained Hillcrest 363-52 and had 17 first downs to just one for the Cougars.
William Pani led the Carroll defense with eight tackles, including two for a loss. Mathis Beck had five tackles with two for a loss while Cooper Beck and Christian McCluskey each had four tackles. Noah Beck also had an interception.
“I thought the defense played really well,” Milton said. “They made some mistakes, but we are young on the back end. They got one play on us and just went up and got a jump ball. We were in good position on that. I thought we played good run defense. We’ve got a lot of hats to the football. We had four or five guys there on every play.”
Brackin led the Carroll offense with 101 yards on nine carries while Braxton York had 94 yards rushing. Lofton Holly had 57 yards rushing on eight carries and two touchdowns.
The Rebels will open district play this week as they travel to Benton to take on the 2-0 Raiders.
The Raiders beat Newton County Academy 37-14 last week and Porter’s Chapel 46-12.
Last year, Carroll won 51-12 but Milton is expecting a much different game this week.
“They are much improved,” Milton said. “They have a good running back and a lot of kids who have played a lot of football. We will have to play really well this week and will have to tackle like we have been tackling. We have to do what we do on offense and keep the ball away from them.”
Milton said he isn’t worried about his team being ready.
“Our kids know they are a lot better than they were last year,” Milton said. “I thought we were ready to play this week and if we can get ready to play against Hillcrest, I think we will be ready to play against Benton. Our kids will be ready to play.”
