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Cougars run over Prairie 42-6




Carroll Homecoming royalty Following a week of festivities at Carroll Jr.-Sr. High School, seniors Maddy Dinger and Michael Carey were crowned Homecoming queen and king Friday night during half-time of the Carroll Clinton Prairie football game. She is the daughter of Brian and Karen Dinger. His parents are Jamie Jackson and Marc Carey. Photo provided

Carroll Homecoming royalty Following a week of festivities at Carroll Jr.-Sr. High School, seniors Maddy Dinger and Michael Carey were crowned Homecoming queen and king Friday night during half-time of the Carroll Clinton Prairie football game. She is the daughter of Brian and Karen Dinger. His parents are Jamie Jackson and Marc Carey. Photo provided

In their penultimate game of the regular season, Carroll’s varsity football team routed the Clinton Prairie Gophers 42-6 in a game that put them one step closer to the Hoosier Heartland Conference (HHC) championship.

Carroll will play this Friday at home, Senior Night, against the Sheridan Blackhawks in a game for the HHC title.

The Cougars came out dealing the first blow of the game with a Keegan Ellis carry across the goal line for the opening score of the game before Prairie made the game interesting, matching Carroll’s score with one of its own minutes later.

Grady Lytle and Ellis continued to keep their foot on the gas throughout the first and second quarters with rushing TDs each. Ellis finished the night with 250 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

As a team, Carroll registered zero yards in the passing game while attempting one play through the air. On the ground, Ellis and the Cougars were nearly unstoppable as they totaled 315 yards with an 8-yard average per carry.

In comparison, the Cougars’ defense held the Gophers to 228 yards total while forcing five fumbles and registering numerous tackles for loss.

Michael Carey led the Cougars with 12 tackles while Cohen Ayres and Michael Tillman registered seven each.

Moving forward, Carroll will shift its focus to an HHC showdown with Sheridan, a team that comes into Friday night’s championship matchup sitting at 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the conference.

Offensively, the Blackhawks have been dominant throughout the season after losing their season opener to No. 8 in Class 3A Western Boone (7-1). They then rattled off seven straight victories, including four shutouts.

Against HHC opponents, Sheridan has outscored its opposition 273-48 and is coming off of a 35-27 victory over Eastern.

To come out on top with a win, Carroll will need to shift its focus to Sheridan’s run game, an attack that averages 338 yards per game on the ground, led by senior Peyton Cross, who averages 173 yards per game and 17 TDs this season.

While Carroll has managed to outscore opponents with ease throughout the regular season, 44 ppg on offense, the Cougars will need to bring their best offensive attack to Lambert Field on Friday when they attack a Blackhawk defense that has held teams to 10 points per game.