Carterville wears down Bulldogs

The big SIRR Ohio Division showdown at Taylor Field between tri-leaders Harrisburg and Carterville came down to the Lions jumping out to a 21-0 lead at the half and rushing for almost 200 yards and four touchdowns to beat the Bulldogs, 28-7, on Military Appreciation Night.

“We did not play well on offense, but our defense kept us in the ballgame, but when your defense is on the field as long as ours was eventually a good team like Carterville is going to take advantage.” said Harrisburg coach Matt Griffith. “We came into the game with a game plan we were comfortable with, but didn’t execute it. We got popped in the mouth in the first quarter and it took us into the second half before we started swinging back at them, but at that point it was too late.”

Harrisburg fell to 1-1 in the Ohio Division conference standings to drop out of a three-way tie for first place with Carterville (2-0) and Murphysboro (2-0) and drop to third ahead of Massac County (1-2) and Herrin (0-3).

Friday the Bulldogs (4-2) travel to Murphysboro (5-1) for a 7 p.m. game while Carterville (4-2) travels to Massac County (2-4). Herrin (0-6) plays a non-conference game at Prairie Central (3-3) Saturday.

“So now we have to bounce back from this and get ready for Murphysboro, because they are just as good as or better than Carterville,” Griffith said. “They are just as athletic and well coached as Carterville, but I think Murphy has more speed with their skill-based guys. They are a run style offense. They are assignment sound and run their motions and counters off of that using their speed to burn you if you aren’t doing your job. We have to eliminate big plays. Three-and-outs are going to be a huge thing. We just have to play our game.”

The Bulldogs' offense was held in check with just seven first downs and 183 total yards, including 38 yards rushing on 21 carries. Quarterback Owen Rann completed 12 of 27 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. Reed Rider caught six passes for 75 yards, and Aiden Unthank caught five passes for 67 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown.

“We wanted to be two-dimensional, but they shut our running game,” Griffith said. “They were big in the middle up front and we just weren’t executing our blocks. They were bringing different blitzes and disguising them well, so Rann was rushing his reads under the pressure.”

Carterville running back Chance Myers led the game with 123 yards rushing on 13 carries. The senior scored three touchdowns on runs of 25, 26 and 46 yards. As a team the Lions rushed for 178 yards on 33 carries and passed for 61 more. In the first half, Carterville controlled the clock holding the ball for almost 14 minutes.

"They were finding openings on the outside when we were bringing stunts and blitzes,” Griffith said.

The Lions scored two touchdowns to close out the first quarter and scored on their first possession of the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead at the half. After a scoreless third quarter, Harrisburg scored to open the fourth quarter on a eight-play, 62-yard drive, but the Lions didn’t allow the Bulldogs to build upon that, scoring 1:47 later on a three-play, 58-yard drive to seal the victory.

The game started with Harrisburg forcing Carterville to punt on their first two possessions, holding the Lions to just 12 yards on 11 plays. But, the Bulldogs' offense was unable to move the ball punting on its first possession after gaining just four yards.

The Lions began their second drive at their own 20 and after a first down at the 32, the Lions were facing 3rd-and-10 when Dathan Chase sacked Nick Bisching for an eight-yard loss forcing the second punt from the Lions 24.

Unthank returned the punt 18 yards to the Bulldogs' 38, and the Lions were penalized for unnecessary roughness to set up Harrisburg at the Carterville 38. However, the drive stalled at the Lions' 31 on 4th-and-3 on an incomplete pass.

Carterville started its third drive with quarterback Bisching’s first completion — an eight-yard pass to Parker Poole down the left side line. After Myers picked up the first down on a four-yard run, Bisching was dropped for a three-yard loss by Colt Prather.

Bisching and Poole connected again on second down on the same pass for 35 yards down to the 25, where on the next play Myers broke up the middle for the touchdown. The extra point was wide right, leaving the Lions with a 6-0 lead with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs lost four yards on the kickoff to begin their drive on their own eight. Following a one-yard run by Brendan Hicks, the Lions put pressure on Rann forcing two incomplete passes to force a punt from deep in the end zone.

Jonathan Miller caught Aiden Hankins’ kick at the Harrisburg 47 and raced down the right side line to the five. Two plays later Luke Johnson scored from the two. Bisching threw to Riley Crain for the two-point conversion to up the lead to 14-0 with 20 seconds left in the quarter.

Harrisburg took over on its own 24 and got off to a good start with Hicks gaining 13 yards on the first play for the Bulldogs first first down. Following a two-yard loss on a reverse, Rann and Unthank connected for an 11-yard pass leaving 3rd-and-1, but Hicks was stuffed for a one-yard loss and Rider was stopped on fourth down for another one-yard loss to turn the ball back to the Lions at the Harrisburg 44.

On first down the Bulldogs were flagged for a 15-yard pass interference penalty to move the ball to the 29. The Harrisburg defense stiffened, forcing 4th-and-7 at the 26. Myers took a pitch around right end to run untouched into the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point kick was good, upping the lead to 21-0 with 7:17 left in the first half.

Harrisburg won the coin flip and deferred to the second half and started the third quarter on its own 27. The Bulldogs worked their way down the field with the help of a 20-yard pass to Unthank to set up first down at the Carterville 42. However, the drive stalled with an incomplete pass on 4th-and-2 at the 35.

The Harrisburg defense forced the Lions to punt on their next two possessions, getting the ball at their own 38 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Rann and Rider got the drive off with a big bang connecting for a 37-yard pass down to the Lions 25.

Despite two false start penalties the Bulldogs kept the drive going advancing to the Lions 15. Facing 3rd-and-13, Rider was dropped for a five-yard loss on a pass in the left flat. On 4th-and-18 from the 23, Rann threw a perfect pass in the right corner of the end zone where Unthank made a spectacular catch for the touchdown. Burke Wilson kicked the extra point to cut the lead to 21-7 with 6.42 left in the game.

Tristin Burroughs returned the kickoff 22 yards to the Carterville 42. Three plays later Myers broke off right tackle and raced untouched down the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown. The extra point was good to up the lead back to 21 points with 4:55 left.

The Bulldogs’ next drive started on their own 30 following a 16-yard kickoff return by Isaia Robinson and had advanced to the Carterville 43. But a false start penalty moved them back five yards and Rann was sacked for 13 yards on the next play to set up 2nd-and-28. After an incomplete pass Rider made a 13-yard catch, but another incomplete pass on 4th-and-15 gave the ball back with 2:06 remaining.