North Side at Carroll
Final Score: 76-48 Carroll
If you haven’t heard or didn’t already believe it, you sure do now: Carroll’s offense is unstoppable. This statement has been floated around high school football in the early weeks of the season, but now there’s proof against a quality opponent to back it up. The Chargers only punted on 1 of their possessions on Friday. All of their other drives ended in touchdowns.
“That just shows how focused we were all game,” QB Jeff Becker said afterwards. “North Side’s a great team. They put up a fight, but I couldn’t have asked for a better night.”
Becker really couldn’t have played any better, throwing for 460 yards and 9, yes, 9 total touchdowns. All of this added to a 76-48 onslaught, the most points Carroll has scored since 2013, before they were even a member of the SAC, against DeKalb.
While Becker had the best game of his career, his receivers stepped up once again on Friday. The Chargers vertical attack allowed for WR Mason Englert to have another big game, this time finishing with 10 catches for 306 yards and 4 TDs. WR Jameson Coverstone also picked up where he left off last week with 4 receptions, 3 for touchdowns, in another incredible offensive performance for the Chargers.
“I have players across the board,” Becker said. “It doesn’t matter who it is, who’s running the routes, they know the scheme and run the routes well. They get open and I just deliver the ball. What’s awesome about tonight is that my receivers made catches even when I threw a bad ball.”
Going into this game, many expected these two offenses to explode, and they did, with 124 combined points between them. Even though Carroll won big on the scoreboard, this was not a blowout all the way through. North Side was in this game in the fourth quarter, having matched Carroll’s touchdowns all night and only trailing the Chargers 55-48 after getting a safety and a touchdown, before Carroll was eventually able to pull away.
Much of that was due to QB Duce Taylor, who played another great game to keep the Legends in it, finishing with 381 yards and 6 touchdowns on 29 of 45 passing, putting him over 1,000 yards on the season. His running back, Jasuan Lambert, also played his best game of the year with 152 yards and 2 touchdowns, showing off his power running ability throughout the game with plenty of broken tackles. Then there was the fan-favorite, freshman wide receiver Brauntae Johnson coming up with 10 receptions for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns, while almost earning a third on a short pass that he broke for a huge gain, before being tackled just short of the goal line. This game was drastically different from a grueling, defensive battle that North Side played in last week against Dwenger.
While Carroll made a strong argument for why they’re the best team in the conference, and one of the best in 6A, North Side proved that they won’t back down to any opponent this year. The Legends chances of winning the SAC took a big hit with this loss, but it will make other 5A teams in the state a little more nervous about facing this team once we reach the postseason. For now though, Carroll remains unbeaten as they get ready to face Northrop, while North Side will try to get back to .500 with a win against Wayne.
“We prepare one week at a time,” Becker said. “Next week is going to be week 4 and we go 1-0. That’s all we think about.”
Concordia at Snider
Final Score: 27-0 Snider
Concordia was blanked for the second week in a row without their starting quarterback Brandon Davis. The Panthers were able to hold RB Amir Drew in check for only 71 yards, about 4.2 a carry. Snider’s defense allowed QB Luke Haupert and the rest of the offense to get into a rhythm and beat the Cadets handily.
Homestead at Bishop Luers
Final Score: 38-13 Homestead
Homestead got things rolling on offense in week 3. Sparty rolled past Luers on RB Braeden Hardwick’s 156 yards and 3 TD, a week after Hardwick had a tough time finding room to run. The Spartan defense also came through again this week, forcing 3 turnovers and holding the Knights in check on the scoreboard, even keeping them out of the end zone after an 85 yard return by Sir Hale. Homestead did exactly what they needed to do by getting a huge win to give them some momentum heading into next week’s game with Dwenger.
Northrop at Wayne
Final Score: 42-33 Wayne
Northrop was focused on making school history by going 3-0 to open the season, but their hopes were dashed by a tenacious Wayne rushing attack. The Generals ran the ball 51 times for 436 yards, with Chris Thomas being the leading rusher with 302 yards and 4 TD. Northrop’s own rushing attack was unable to keep up, with the Bruins rushing for 236 yards, 100 coming from RB Damarius Cowen. This win is the first for Wayne under head coach Sherwood Haydock and is their first victory overall since 2018.
South Side at Bishop Dwenger
Final Score: 33-13 Dwenger
The Saints had no problem in this one, getting a big lead at halftime and holding on the rest of the way. QB Brenden Lytle threw for 79 yards and 1 TD, but it was the running game led by a committee of backs that gave the Saints the win. Collectively, they ran for over 200 yards and 4 touchdowns. The defense also stepped up by forcing 3 turnovers, putting the Archers in a hole. Dwenger’s ability to wear teams down has been effective for years and it worked again last night on their home field.
