The Carroll Academy Rebels went into the week ranked as the No. 1 team in Class 3A for the first time this season.
The Rebels looked like the No. 1 team as they ran roughshod over Newton County Academy for a 59-0 homecoming win on Friday night.
The Rebels are now 4-0 on the season and will get a stern test this week as they take on Indianola Academy at home.
Carroll Coach Bo Milton said the team came out and took care of business.
“It was an ugly win, that’s for sure,” Milton said. “I will say that after not playing a week, we came out and played with a lot of intensity and took care of business. They weren’t very good, and we scored in a lot of ways. I know exactly where Newton is at. I remember playing Oak Hill my first year, and they hung 60 on us. Newton had played hard on film, but we just kind of overwhelmed them.”
The Rebels scored early and often in the first quarter. After forcing a NCA punt on their first series, Hunter Brackin returned the punt 39 yards to the NCA 39. On the next play, Brennan Blaylock hit Braxton York on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 9:39 left in the first quarter. Hunter Grantham booted the PAT and Carroll led 7-0 early.
The Rebels got the ball right back when the Generals fumbled on their first play on the ensuing drive, and Cooper Beck recovered the ball and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. Blaylock ran in the two-point conversion and Carroll led 15-0.
The Generals lost the ball again on their first play of the next offensive series. Four plays later, Mathis Beck scored on an 11-yard run. The try-for-two failed, and Carroll led 21-0 with 7:37 left in the first quarter.
The Generals punted on their next possession, and York returned it 63 yards for a touchdown with 5:12 left in the first quarter. William Panni ran in the two-point conversion and Carroll led 29-0 with 5:12 left in the first quarter.
On NCA’s next possession, the Generals ran two plays before Cooper Beck tackled the Generals in the end zone for a safety to give Carroll a 31-0 lead.
On the ensuing kick, Noah Beck returned the kick 58 yards for a touchdown. Blaylock ran in the two-point conversion, and Carroll led 39-0 with 1:38 left in the first quarter.
The Rebels made it 45-0 early in the second quarter when Mathis Beck scored on a 33-yard run with 11:11 left in the second quarter.
“We scored just about every way you could imagine,” Milton said. “We returned a kick, a punt, had a fumble return, threw a touchdown and ran one in. We really weren’t trying to run it up, but you can’t tell kids to not go score.
The Rebels received the opening kickoff of the second half, and York returned the ball 80 yards for a touchdown. Maddox Carpenter ran in the two-point conversion, and Carroll led 53-0.
With a 10-minute running clock in the second half, the Rebels got very few offensive plays. They did get a 54-yard touchdown run from Carpenter for the final margin of 59-0.
“That’s the thing about it, we just don’t have that many players to sub in,” Milton said. “Our second string running backs would start for a lot of people and run the ball hard. You can’t tell them not to score. It wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure.”
Mainly because of big plays on defense and special teams, the Rebels had their worst statistical game of the year with just 159 yards of total offense on nine total plays for the game.
Newton had negative 19 yards of offense with 10 sacks. Panni led the defense with nine tackles and three sacks while Mathis Beck had eight tackles. Hunter Brower had eight tackles and three sacks while Cooper Beck had one fumble recovery for a TD and one sack for a safety.
The Rebels will get a stern test this week as they host Indianola on Friday night.
The Colonels are 3-2 on the season and coming off a big 49-34 win over Winona Christian on Friday night.
“They are very solid and a well-coached football team,” Milton said. “They run the ball downhill and don’t throw a lot. They aren’t going to beat themselves and are doing to try to control the game with their offense. They have some big, wide kids. But I think we match up well with them. We’re pretty big as well and I think our size offsets each other I think we might have more speed in some spots. But I think the game is going to be won or loss up front. Like most football games, whoever can block and tackle will win the game. It should be a good one.”
The Rebels won 45-12 last season before the Colonels won eight in a row and made the Class 3A championship game.
