The Carroll Academy Rebels did to Indianola Academy what the Colonels have been doing to opposing teams the last five years.
The Rebels used a punishing rushing attack, piling up 453 yards as the Rebels took a 45-13 win over the homesteading Colonels on Friday night.
With the win, the Rebels improve to 5-1 on the season and will travel to rival Winona on Friday night in a battle of unbeaten teams in district play with a district championship on the line.
For the Rebels, it was a complete and dominating win over the Colonels, who played for the Class AAA championship last year.
“It was probably the most complete game that we have played this year for sure,” Carroll Coach Bo Milton said. “Top to bottom, I thought we played good in every aspect of the game. I thought our kids did a great job of getting focuses and not letting the name Indianola affect us. We went out there and played our kind of football and took it to them.”
The Rebels got the ball to start the game and put together a 14-play drive but eventually turned the ball over on downs. But Indianola fumbled on their first play from scrimmage.
Carroll then responded with a quick three-play drive as Hunter Bracken scored on a 7-yard run with 3:49 left in the first quarter. Morgan Mims scored the two-point conversion and Carroll led 8-0.
After forcing two three-and-outs by the Indianola offense, Carroll got a second score in the first half, going 49 yards in eight plays as Bracken scored on a 1-yard run. Mims ran in the two-point conversion and Carroll led 16-0 at the half.
“I thought Hunter had a great game,” Milton said. “We really tried to stay balanced and spread the ball around. We had plans to throw the ball more but we didn’t have to. We just kept doing what we do and it was working for us. We are who we are and do what we do.”
In the second half, Indianola got the ball to start the half but threw an interception on the first play. Carroll then went 61 yards in seven plays as Mims scored on a quarterback keeper. Mims hit Reese Fulton on the two-point conversion as Carroll led 24-0.
Indianola did string together nine plays but lost the ball on a fumble. The Rebels needed just three plays to find the end zone. After a 42-yard run by Bracken, Mims scored on an 8-yard run. Bracken ran in the two-point conversion and Carroll led 32-0.
“We have been real good on defense all year and I thought we were really good against Indianola,” Milton said. “We have been real consistent on that side and do a good job of gang tackling. We get to the ball in the secondary and do a good job of high pointing the football. We had three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. We couldn’t have done much more.”
Indianola finally scored with 3:34 left in the third on a 7-yard run to make the score 32-7.
After a Carroll punt, the Rebels got back to back interceptions. The first by Mims set up a 38-yard run by Bracken with 11:10 left in the game to make the score 39-7.
The second by O’Cain set up a four-play, 42-yard drive that Bracken finished off with a 7-yard run with 7:14 left to play to start the running clock and make the score 45-7.
The Rebels had 453 yards of total offense, all on the ground. Bracken had 167 yards on 20 carries while Mims had 167 yards on 16 carries. Braxton York had 46 yards on five carries while Logan Taylor had 46 yards on three carries. John Marc O’Cain had 27 yards on two carries.
