Carrollton seizes night, rolls to football win over Minerva

Carpe diem is a Latin phrase meaning “seize the day,” exhorting us to make much of the time we have left.

The Carrollton Warriors, aware that for the first time since 2019 there’d be no postseason appearance, decided to "carpe p.m." and seize the night when they visited Minerva Oct. 24, defeating the Lions 38-14.

Carrollton, which had been averaging slightly less than 16 points per game, posted its best output of the season, allowing the Warriors to wrap up the regular season at 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference.

Following a short Minerva rushing touchdown midway through the first quarter, QB Hunter Allison put the Warriors on the board with a 10-yard TD strike to Isaac Husted to tie the game at 7-7 moments before the second period began. The Warriors were just getting revved up.

First, Levi Kiko scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns on a 2-yard plunge with 2:30 remaining in the first half. Two minutes later, Paycen Havens booted a 31-yard field goal to send Carrollton into the half with a 17-7 lead.

Kiko then broke free on a 39-yard jaunt down the left sideline to put the Warriors up 24-7 in the third quarter. The Lions (5-5, 1-4) responded with their second rushing touchdown of the night to make the score 24-14 with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.

Carrollton, however, tacked on two fourth-quarter scores — a short rushing TD by Hayden Thomas to open the quarter and a 38-yard score by Kiko to put an exclamation point on the proceedings.

Kiko ended the night with 122 on just 11 touches and the three TDs, while Allison gained 72 yards rushing on nine carries. Husted led all receivers with eight receptions for 66 yards and the one TD, while Jaden Murphy added six catches for 70 yards and tight end Jayven Johnson caught four for 66 yards.

Through the air, Allison completed 25 of 34 passes for 260 yards, a respectable amount but shy of the 346 yards he threw for earlier in the month against Alliance, which easily shattered the former school record of 296 yards set in 1982.

On the defensive side of the ball, Husted led the Warriors with 14 tackles, including three for a loss. Johnson racked up 11 tackles, seven of them for a loss to go alongside two forced fumbles, while Thomas added 10 stops.

Speaking of records, Johnson etched his name all over the Carrollton record book. First, the senior linebacker set the single-game school mark for tackles for a loss with seven, eclipsing the former mark of five from 2012. Those seven gave Johnson 25 TFLs for the season, breaking the 2012 mark of 23. Lastly, Johnson ended his illustrious career with 37 TFLs, besting the previous mark of 36.5 from 2019.

Cross Country

Carrollton’s cross country teams traveled to Columbus to continue their quest for state in the cross country. Unfortunately, the season ended at regionals as no Warriors were able to qualify individually for the state tournament, slated for Nov. 1.

The Lady Warriors competed in the OHSAA Div. III Region 10 meet, hosted by Pickerington North  Oct. 25 and placed 22nd out of 33 teams with 517 points. Tusky Valley edged Minerva 114-120 to claim the team title.

Leading Carrollton was junior Gabi McCort, who placed 73rd with a time of 21:19.20. She was followed by Olivia McCort (21:47.79) in 92nd place, and senior Ella Barkan (22:07.01), who finished 105th. Freshman Heather Allbritain (23:00.38) was Carrollton’s fourth runner in 151st place, and senior Norah Kerr-Jung (23:34.01) capped the scoring for the Warriors, finishing 175th.

The boys, who ran in the Div. II Region 6 meet, placed 22nd in a field of 23 teams with 519 points. Columbus Watterson won the regional trophy with a low score of 114 points, well ahead of runner-up New Philadelphia’s 153 points.

Senior John Childs paced the Warriors with his 85th place finish in a time of 17:32.92. He was followed by freshman Carson Murphy (17:57.38), who placed 109th. Sophomore Andrew Childs (18:18.08) finished in 128th place, sophomore Landyn Wade-Perkins (18:25.70) came in 138th, and sophomore Andrew Husk (18:55.89) rounded out the team score for Carrollton with his 157th-place finish.