Homestead at Carroll
Final Score: 42-15 Homestead
Coaches love rivalry games. They know they don’t need to try and hype up the matchup in front of their team. That’s because their team already knows how big of a game it is. In Homestead’s case, playing arch-rival Carroll with their undefeated season on the line didn’t need anymore buildup. They were ready for another challenge.
Carroll’s goal was to spoil Homestead’s season and get a big win themselves. They felt confident that they could at least keep it close throughout. QB Jeff Becker played well against a great Snider defense earlier this year. If he could do that against Homestead, things could be tight late in the game.
The game had the craziness we expected. Both teams had missed opportunities in the first half. Homestead was inside the Carroll’s 10 yard line, about to go up 21-6, when RB Braeden Hardwick fumbled, giving Carroll the ball, leading to a Charger touchdown drive. Carroll had a shot at three more touchdowns when they were inside the red zone. Those drives resulted in two made field goals and one missed. The score was a little closer than expected, with Homestead only leading 14-12 at the half.
Then came a wild third quarter. Homestead had the ball up 21-12, when the pass was intercepted, only to be thwarted by a roughing the passer call. Carroll head coach Doug Dinan tried to argue with the officials that it should be Carroll’s ball, just 15 yds back. After a lengthy delay, the officials decided that the roughing the passer call negated the interception and it would remain Homestead football. This was a big call as the Spartans would finish off the drive with a touchdown. However, RB Braeden Hardwick was hurt on the touchdown run and had to be helped off the field. Later on, he was on crutches win his leg wrapped up. QB Luke Goode commented after the game on his running back’s injury.
“It sucks. He’s a really good player, we don’t know what’s going to happen, we don’t know the outcome of the injury. But whatever happens, we’re just going to keep moving along, whether he’s healthy or not. We just need to continue on as a team because we know that we can beat any team, with or without him, so we’ll just keep moving along.”
Hardwick still leads the SAC with 957 rushing yds, 15 TD, and averaging 6.8 yds a carry. It would be a huge loss for the Spartans, but as Goode said they will have to move on, with backup Tyler Burris likely having to step into Harwick’s role if he doesn’t return.
It was a chippy game for sure, something that has to be expected anytime Carroll and Homestead play. There were 21 total penalties that added up to 226 yds. There quite a few late hits and plenty of other extracurricular activities in this game. Even Homestead LB Cam Rogers got ejected after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Jeff Becker. To Luke Goode, this win came with a lot of adversity.
“It’s great, playing away, against a great team. They were in tough games with Dwenger and Snider, and they’ve played teams really hard. We knew coming into this game it wasn’t going to be easy and up only two at half, we took personally. Coming out of the second half, the defense did a great job, the offense did a great job, and we came out with the win.”
Goode had another phenomenal game as he threw for 337 yds and 3 TD. His leading receiver was Jared Kistler, who had his best game of the year. He’s now the leading receiver on Homestead after he had 5 rec for 185 yds and 1 TD.
Carroll will play at Concordia next week, while Homestead will have a long list of names to read off on senior day next week vs Wayne.
Snider at Northrop
Final Score: 48-21 Snider
Snider’s domination in their series against Northrop continued on Friday. The Panthers were up 28-7 at halftime and never looked back. QB Jon Barnes Jr was unstoppable with 195 yds through the air and 3 TD. WR Alonzo Derrick was busy with 7 catches for 94 yds and a touchdown. The only bright spot for Northrop was that RB Damarius Cowen had a tremendous game with 127 yds and 1 TD. Snider might want to work on their rush defense leading up to their game this week with Dwenger.
Bishop Luers at Bishop Dwenger
Final Score: 47-0 Dwenger
We told you going into this game that Dwenger’s largest margin of victory over Luers was only 7 points, since the SAC’s expansion. They all changed after this year’s game. 47 points on offense and a shutout on defense by Dwenger was almost uncharacteristic for this game. It would be easy to simply say that Luers isn’t good this year and that Dwenger should have steamrolled them the way they did. But, when you look back at the history of close games between these two, this is a huge win for the Saints. If Dwenger can bring the momentum that they from this game into their next matchup with Snider, they should have no problem beating the Panthers.
North Side at South Side
Final Score: 17-16 North Side
It just seems like whenever the Legends and Archers get together, it’s always a fantastic game. South Side looked like they were about to win their second game this year, leading 16-7 at the start of the fourth quarter. However, after a field goal and a 56-yard touchdown pass from Duce Taylor to Jordan Turner late in the game, North Side was able to sneak out with a win. Turner had a big game with 4 rec for 101 yds, with the touchdown catch playing a big part in that. Meanwhile, another heartbreaking loss for the Archers will make this bittersweet season less enjoyable, knowing what they left on the field.
Concordia at Wayne
Final Score: 35-16 Concordia
Concordia RB Amir Drew continues to dazzle defenses with his running capabilities. He had 135 yds and 3 TD on Friday, making his presence felt once more. QB Brandon Davis played well too, as he threw for 258 yds and 2 TD. The Cadets and Generals were in a tight game to start, with the score being 8-7 Wayne at halftime. However, like so many teams on Friday, the Cadets worked things out in the second half to secure a blowout victory over the Generals.
