By RICK SPRUNGER
FLORA – Southern Wells made the long trek to Carroll of Carroll County Friday night and came home on the short end of a 43-6 setback.
Despite the one-sided loss, however, Southern Wells coach Mike Roeder saw some things he liked out of his squad.
“We saw some fire out of the kids tonight,” smiled Roeder.
“I wish we could have had a little more of it right from the start, but I was really pleased with the way they competed.
“They competed much better this year than they did last year.”
Southern Wells had some strong moments in the first half, particularly on the defensive side.
The Raiders twice turned away the Cougars with their backs on the goal line.
The first time was late in the first quarter.
Carroll had taken a 13-0 lead, had forced Southern Wells to punt from its own end zone, and got a huge return to set up at the Raider 12.
But Bryar Gearheart picked off a Luke Tanner pass in the back of the end zone to end the threat in one play.
Then, with the score still 13-0 early in the second period, the Cougars marched all the way to the Raider 8.
But they got no further as they stopped one smash into the line for just a yard, then spilled Grady Lytle for a five-yard loss.
Two incomplete passes later, and the Raiders had held.
“We did some good things on both sides of the ball,” continued Roeder.
“And one thing I really liked was that for just a moment in the first half, we had [Carroll] thinking they were in a ball game.”
That ended late in the second quarter, however, when Carroll stuffed three touchdowns into the end zone in the span of just over three minutes to make the score 36-0 at halftime and guarantee a running clock throughout the second half.
Cohen Ayres started it with a 29-yard scoring dash with 4:25 remaining.
A deep kickoff and a penalty pinned the Raidersback at their own 10, and a three-and-out put Carroll in business at the 12.
One play was all Xavier Williams needed to race in from there with 3:13 left.
Another deep kickoff, another three-and-out, and a blocked punt gave the ball to the Cougars at the Southern Wells 8.
Keegan Ellis then ran in his second touchdown of the night with 1:02 to play for the 36-0 spread.
Ellis finished his night with 78 yards and two scores on six carries, all in the first half.
If there were some things Roeder liked Friday night, there were also some things he didn’t.
Penalties, for instance.
Southern Wells was flagged 11 times for 115 yards in the first half alone. And that doesn’t even count the three 15-yard penalties that were either declined or offset by Carroll penalties.
“I didn’t like that,” said Roeder flatly, “but I was not as upset with my boys as I was disappointed with the way the game was called.
“It seemed like they were throwing flags on every play against one team or the other.
“When they’re throwing that many flags, it just makes for a disjointed game where neither team can really get into the flow of what they want to do.
“It messes up the continuity of the game, and the kids struggle with that.”
Things settled down considerably in the second half, probably at least partially due to the running clock.
Southern Wells had no second-half penalties, and Carroll had just one for five yards.
The Raiders picked up their only score in the fourth quarter on a two-yard run by Gage Roberts.
Roberts finished his evening with 50 yards on 17 carries.
CARROLL (CARROLL) 43, SOUTHERN WELLS 6
Southern Wells 0 0 0 6 – 6
Carroll (Carroll) 13 23 7 0 – 43
FIRST QUARTER
CAR-Keegan Ellis 11 run (Tanner Turnpaugh kick), 7:40.
CAR-Luke Tanner 4 run (kick failed), 5:33.
SECOND QUARTER
CAR-Cohen Ayres 29 run (Ellis run), 4:25.
CAR-Xavier Williams 12 run (Ellis run), 3:13.
CAR-Ellis 8 run (Turnpaugh kick), 1:02.
THIRD QUARTER
CAR-Owen Zinn 25 run (Turnpaugh kick), 4:56.
FOURTH QUARTER
SW-Gage Roberts 2 run (run failed), 8:23.
TEAM STATISTICS SW CAR
First Downs 8 14
Rushes-Yards 32-53 28-235
Passing Yards 54 8
Passing (C-A-I) 5-13-0 1-5-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties 11-115 5-55
Punts 8-16.1 1-38.0
Time of Possession 30:01 17:59
