Knights prevail despite strong second half by Cougars
By Mike Hoffman Contributing sportswriter

Strategy session Enthusiasm and intensity inhabited Carroll's sideline during Friday night's Homecoming football game against Central Catholic. At a crucial point in the first half, coaches (l-r) Assistant Andy Zinn, Interim Head Coach Steve Keown, and Assistant Tom Hall talk with players #20 Andrew Hughes, #32 Ben Bennington, #73 Paul Yerkes, #53 Chandler Keown, #15 Deric Finley, and #71 Ethan Glasscock. Bill Stauffer photo

The No. 3 ranked Lafayette Central Catholic Knights came to Carroll Friday night, hoping for a high scoring game. They left with the 34-21 win, however the margin of victory was not what they had anticipated.

The Knights put all their 34 points on the board in the first half. That was enough. The Knights went on to win the Hoosier Heartland Conference battle to go 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

Central Catholic has won 15 consecutive regular season games. They are averaging 28.9 points per game, while allowing their opponents only 9.8 points.

Despite the Knights' victory, the Cougars played their best game in a long time. They shut down the Knights' offense and physically wore them down in the second half.

The Cougar defense forced five turnovers. CC fumbled the football two times and sophomore QB Chris Mills was intercepted three times by the Cougars.

The Carroll kids never gave up, which pleased interim coach Steve Keown, who was leading the team for the second week.

"Our deal is, this is football, so come out and hit people," Keown said. "We want to line it up and see what we can do. We drove inside the 5-yard line twice and didn't score. We've got to work on that. No question about it, these guys are going to see where they can go now."

The Knights scored first on a 77-yard punt return by Mike Murphy, who twisted and side shifted his way up the field. The PAT attempt was good (9:50-1)

The Knights scored again in the first quarter, aided by 2 Carroll penalties on a five-yard TD pass from Chris Mills to Murphy. That kick was good 14-0.

On the kick-off Deric Finley took the kick and ran his way to the Knights' 12-yard line. The Cougars picked up the first down to keep the drive alive. QB Riley Eller scored one of his two rushing touchdowns. The PAT was good 14-7 CC at (2:09-1).

Central Catholic came right back and started another scoring drive. Mills found Matt Svenstrup for a 14-yard TD pass, and the PAT kick was good as the Knights were on the board again at 11:18-2 (21- 7 CC.).

The Cougars went to work and mounted a scoring drive of their own, which had the CC fans on the edge of their seats. Eller scored his second TD of the night on an 8-yard run. Skylar Bagwell kicked the extra point 21-14 CC at (5:20- 2).

Then back came the Knights as Mills found Greg Burns for a 17-yard TD pass play at 3:12 (2). The 2-point trial was no good. 27-14 CC.

A bad snap from the center cost the Cougars when Tom Almond scooped up the ball in the end zone. The score was 34-14 CC.

That was the end of the first half. The Cougar Marching Band performed at half-time. These kids did a great job and the fans loved it.

The Knights didn't score in the second half. It wasn't because they didn't try, but the Big Blue Machine got mean and tough.

The Knight's sophomore QB was intercepted three times and CC lost a fumble that Josh Holda picked up and returned 48-yards for the score. The PAT kick was good for a 34-21 CC lead.

The offense kept the Knight's defense on their toes a lot in this game. Finley rushed 11 times for 54 yards and caught 3 passes for 29 yards; Ben Bennington rushed 20 times for 52 yards; Eller carried 11 times for 37 yards and 2 TDs; Holda carried 3 times for 7 yards, plus returned a fumble for a score; Bagwell carried once for 5 yards.

The Blue offense rushed 47 times for 133 yards and 2 TDs. Eller was 4 of 18 for 47 yards and no interceptions. Primmer Zook caught a pass for 17 yards.

Defensively, the Cougars were led by Eller with 13 tackles and 1 interception, Brandon Williamson's 11 tackles, Andrew Butcher's 9 tackles and 1 interception, Finley's 1 interception, and Holda's fumble recovery retuned for a TD.

"I've never been more proud of a group of kids," said Coach Keown. "Everything has been against them for a week, and everybody got after them. They answered the call."

The Cougars will be back in action Friday in Jefferson against the 4-1 Clinton Prairie Gophers. Again the Cougars needs to step it up and play good on both sides of the ball.