Cougars rout Fremont for second win
Coach George resigns
By Mike Hoffman Contributing sportswriter

Veteran football coach Rick George resigned Friday as Carroll's head football coach. The team was informed of his resignation in a team meeting before practice Friday. At that time, it was announced that assistant Steve Keown would coach Saturday's game at Fremont.

George coached at Carroll for seven years, from 1979 through 1986, compiling a 63- 34 record with the Cougars. He returned to Carroll as the head coach before the 2006 season and led the Cougars to a 3-8 season.

The team lost its first two games (Tri-County and Delphi) and rebounded last week with a win at Tri-Central. The team evened its season record defeating Fremont 42-7.

The Cougars played their best game in a long time on Saturday. They played tough on both sides of the ball.

A lot of good fans traveled the 3-hour trip to the northeast corner of the state to see their Cougars take on the Fremont Eagles. Fremont is located northwest of Angola. The coaches, players, cheerleaders, parents and fans were treated to a hog roast.

The Eagles won the toss and deferred as the Cougars took the kickoff and started at their 30-yard line. It took the Cougars only 4 plays and 80 yards to score on a 51-yard run by Deric Finley. Skylar Bagwell's PAT was good, 7-0 Carroll. That was the only scoring in the first quarter.

The Eagles' only score came at 11:48 of the second quarter on a quarterback keeper. The PAT was good for a 7-7 tie.

After a big return by Finley, the Cougars started at their 49- yard line. The Cougars ran the ball twice, before Josh Holda went 41 yards at 10:07 in the second quarter.

The Cougar defense took over to shutdown the Eagles for the rest of the first half. With just 41.3 seconds left in the half, Ben Bennington scored the first of 3 touchdowns with a 2-yard run. Bagwell's PAT was good, 21-7 Carroll.

Bennington scored twice in the third quarter on runs of 35 yards at 9:04 (3) and 68 yards at 1:38 (3).

The Cougars won this game on big plays and an all-around big team effort. The Cougars played tough on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The Cougar offense ran over the Eagles who had their defense on the field for much of the game.

Bennington finished with 132 yards on 12 carries and 3 touchdowns (2-35-68 yards).

Finley had 6 carries for 71 yards and 1 touchdown. Holda had 5 carries for 65 yards and 1 touchdown; Eller was 1 of 4 passing for 4 yards and 1 touchdown rushing. The Cougars rushed 36 times for 293 yards.

The defense played their "A" game for Coach Keown. Several players had big hits in this game - Eller 13 tackles, Bennington 11, and Bagwell 9 tackles; Holda and Justin Matthews each had a sack. There were several others who tackled behind the line, knocked down passes, or put pressure on the quarterback.

"I was proud the way the guys rushed the ball, and the way the offensive line opened holes and how the defense played very hard all game," said Coach Keown. "I'm just proud of the way we played."

Now the Big Blue Mean Machine has a tough challenge ahead when they face the Central Catholic Knights who have a 14 straight, regular season streak. The Knights have a lot of power in their leading rusher Griffin Richeson, sophomore QB Chris Mills, leading receiver Mike Murphy, and leading tackler Jake Milakis. The Cougars will have to be ready if they want to upset the Class A third- ranked Knights.

The Knights come to Carroll with a 4-0 record. Friday night is Carroll's Homecoming and game time is 7 p.m. Come early and tailgate.