CLINCH WIVC TITLE: Carrollton rolls to 38-20 victory over Pleasant Hill
CARROLLTON - Through the first 31 minutes of the game, Carrollton Hawks running back Byron Holmes’ number was often called, but would usually manage a one or two-yard gain in which he would get stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
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Finally, the offensive line created enough space for the junior to exploit and gained 175 of his 178 yards, including two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. That proved to be the difference between the Pleasant Hill Wolves in a 38-20 result at Pleasant Hill High School on Friday night.
“You just gotta be patient,” Holmes said. “We worked it out at halftime, and the line started blocking like they normally do. It was nice knowing that we can use the run game too and not just pass the ball.”
The victory means the Hawks stay undefeated at 6-0, but more importantly, they punched their playoff ticket for the sixth year in a row. Additionally, Carrollton has clinched a share of the WIVC South title for the sixth consecutive season as well.
Carrollton head coach Nick Flowers was particularly pleased with Holmes on his career night.
“Probably what I’m most proud of is Byron Holmes running here. The physical runs he had late in the game was hard-nosed football. We ended up spreading out the field and [Pleasant Hill] had to honor us, and we had some nice running lanes. As the second half went on our guys up front started to step up and we ran the ball well.”
“This is a great way to win a South conference game,” Flowers said. “Pleasant Hill’s backs were against the wall. This was a must win for them to have a playoff hope, record wise and they brought it on us.”
Coming into the game, Carrollton averaged 36 points per game, and Pleasant Hill averaged 34. It appeared both teams were up for a shootout with both sides sporting spread offenses, but the polar opposite happened for most of the first half.
The Wolves gave the Hawks fits but beat themselves at times with penalties and a couple of fumbles. On the other side, Carrollton’s highly touted spread offense didn’t convert a first down until late in the first half.
“The last couple of weeks we didn’t play this caliber of physicality. It was a step up tonight,” Flowers said. “This reminded me a lot of our Beardstown and Calhoun games. [Pleasant Hill] had a good game plan coming in, and it took us a little bit there to get things rolling. Sometimes you need to realize that not everything comes easy. We had to really work tonight for this victory.”
Throughout the power struggle, Pleasant Hill had the upper hand in field position, and eventually, they struck first on a one-yard rushing touchdown by Kodiak Rogers with two minutes and 54 seconds to go until halftime. That’s where the fun began.
Hunter Flowers found some rhythm and directed a minute and 45 second, 54-yard drive where he completed a spectacular 21-yard passing touchdown to Nathan Walker to tie the score at 8-8. On the ensuing drive on the first play, Rogers took a counter handoff and broke free down the sidelines for a 65-yard touchdown score to put his team back up 14-8 with 50.9 seconds to go until halftime.
The Carrollton quarterback finished with 186 passing yards, was 13-for-27, and threw two touchdown passes. Walker caught four passes for 87 yards while Barnett received four as well for 65 yards. Each caught a touchdown pass.
Back came the Hawks.
It took only four plays and under 40 seconds for Carrollton to drive 70 yards to find the end zone. With 12.9 left on the clock, Flowers hit Tyler Barnett all by himself in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown, and the Hawks converted the two-point conversion to take a 16-14 lead into halftime.
“We built on that at halftime,” Flowers said. “We scored in under a minute, and that’s what we’re capable of doing.”
Just like the first quarter, the offenses stalled, for the most part, however, the Wolves drove deep into Carrollton territory late in the third quarter and had a first down and goal from the eight-yard line. Undeterred, the Hawks rose to the challenge and forced a turnover on downs, which would prove vital on the following drive.
Holmes scored on a 48-yard touchdown run up the middle to give his team a two-score lead at 24-14 early in the fourth quarter. He would find the end zone again with just under three minutes to go on an eight-yard run, which put Carrollton up 30-14.
Pleasant Hill wouldn’t zip up and take the bus just yet. Quarterback Dalton Crane dropped back to pass but took off when nobody was open and managed to scamper 65 yards to the house. Crane would finish with 230 passing yards and was 15-for-30 through the air. His favorite target was Grant Peebles who caught six passes for 128 yards. The Hawks did a fantastic job of containing Crane overall as the quick quarterback accumulated 52 rushing yards on 12 carries.
“We were excited because [we face] double-win, double-tight end teams,” Holmes said. “We got to play someone who threw the ball. ”I wish we would’ve had more turnovers, but it is what it is.”
After the Hawks recovered an onside kick, they quickly drove down the field, and Flowers added another touchdown with a three-yard score.
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