CHS drops battle of Warriors; Cross county teams advance
Carrollton High boys and girls cross country squads move into Oct. 25 regionals
Carrollton quarterback Hunter Allison runs for yardage in the Warriors' Oct. 17 loss to West Branch.
Mark Tucker
In a battle of Warriors, one clan had to come out on
top. Unfortunately for Carrollton, it was host West Branch which pillaged and
plundered its way to a convincing 48-7 football win over the Carroll County version on Oct. 17.
Sitting atop the Eastern Buckeye Conference, West
Branch (8-1, 4-0) clinched at least a share of its sixth consecutive conference
crown, and will own it outright should it emerge victorious in Week 10 versus
second-place Salem – which was the last EBC team to defeat West Branch way back
in 2019. That year also happened to be the last season Carrollton (3-6, 1-3) failed
to qualify for the playoffs.
West Branch dominated the game on the ground, piling
up more than 220 yards on only 19 carries. Seventy-four of those yards came on
one play in the first quarter as quarterback Grady Hirst broke through the line on a
designed play and was off to the races and a 13-0 West Branch lead.
West Branch scored three more times in the second
period to open up a commanding 34-0 advantage before Carrollton finally got on
the scoreboard as Hunter Allison found Isaac Husted in the end zone on a
1-yard scoring toss. Paycen Havens connected on the PAT and the score stood at
34-7.
That was the extent of Carrollton’s scoring as West
Branch responded with another touchdown before halftime and then a
fourth-quarter rushing TD to produce the final score.
Allison finished the evening going 16 of 30 for 155
yards and the one score via the pass, but he was picked off three times. The senior was also
the Warriors’ leading rusher, picking up 32 yards on six carries on a night the
Carrollton ground game was mostly held in check.
The receiving corps was led by Husted, who caught six
ballsfor 53 yards and the score. Tight end Jayven Johnson caught five
passes for 39 yards. Defensively, Husted totaled seven tackles, while Easton
Russell tallied six, and Johnson recorded two tackles for a loss as well as two
sacks.
Cross
Country
Both the boys and girls competed at the district meet
at Cambridge – the boys in Div. II and the Lady Warriors running in Div. III.
Despite running in different divisions, both teams advance to their respective
regional meets to be hosted by Pickerington North High School Oct. 25.
The boys placed third overall with 95 points, just two
ahead of John Glenn, while New Philadelphia was the team champion with 28
points. Senior John Childs (18:58.00) placed 14th just a step ahead of his
younger brother Andrew in 15th place. Freshman Carson Murphy (19:17.00) placed
18th, sophomore Landyn Wade-Perkins came in 23rd, and freshman Diesel Long rounded
out the team scoring in 35th place.
The Lady Warriors, meanwhile, tied Martins Ferry with
224 points, but claimed the eighth spot by virtue of winning the tiebreaker. Minerva
won the team title with 64 points. Junior Gabi McCort (21:32.00) placed 27th to
pace Carrollton, while junior Olivia McCort finished 36th. Senior Ella Barkan
was 49th, Freshman Heather Allbritain placed 56th, and senior Norah Kerr-Jung
capped team scoring in 63rd place.
Girls
Soccer
Going into the Div. IV East 2 District Sectional final
Oct. 15 between Warsaw River View and Carrollton, the two teams looked to be
pretty evenly matched. After all, River View was seeded 10th and the Lady
Warriors were the No. 12 seed.
The seeding – which is voted upon by coaches – looked
to be on point as the Black Bears outlasted Carrollton 1-0 to send the Warriors
home. River View’s Elyse Hoke scored on a penalty kick with 28:21 remaining in
the first half for the match’s only scoring.
Manning the net, Joslyn James recorded 13 saves for
Carrollton (4-12-1), which 19-14 edge in shots on goal over River View
(5-11-2).
Boys
Soccer
No. 4 seed New Philly leapt out to a 5-0 first half
lead in its Div. III East 1 District Sectional final match Oct. 14 on its way
to an 8-0 shutout win over seventh-seeded Carrollton (3-15).
Warriors’ goalkeeper Rylan Barrick had a busy night
against the Quakers (10-7-1) in the net as he logged 20 saves.
The outcome was clearly not what was wanted, but
Carrollton coach Tanner Goss could not ask for anything more from his squad.
“All of these young men have grown not only into
stronger players but stronger men,” he said following the match. “Our record
may not show the passion with which these boys played but it was evident in
every game.
"To the seniors your time and efforts will not be forgotten but will
inspire the next generations to come out every day and give it their all.”