STEAMROLLED | Carthage shows off at homecoming, rolls Liberty-Eylau, 47-0
CARTHAGE – Defending UIL Class 4A-Division II state champion Carthage celebrated homecoming here at Bulldog Stadium Friday night by going hunting.
Did you guys have any idea we had Leopard season in East Texas?
Carthage scored six touchdowns and added a safety and a field goal in the first half against Liberty-Eylau, then played the roster in the second half in a lopsided 47-0 win.
The game was over in two hours and 10 minutes.
It was the first home game of the season for the Bulldogs (2-0), who opened the season with a win over Kilgore in a physical battle, took an open date last week, and then the smackdown of L-E here Friday night.
Coach Scott Surratt’s Bulldogs will host Chapel Hill next Friday, Sept. 19.
Carthage, by the way, has been No. 1 since the preseason poll a year ago, even through the home loss to Kilgore in last year’s opener.
K.J. Edwards, the Texas A&M-bound Bulldogs’ running back, scored exactly 48 seconds into the game on a 41-yard run. Kicker Jesus Lopez – who would be busier on the football field Friday night than he ever has in his entire life – hit the extra point, the first of a bunch, and gave Carthage a 7-0 lead.
On Liberty-Eylau’s first possession of the game, the Bulldogs forced them to punt from their own 14-yard-line. The snap went over the punter’s head, and he fielded it in the end zone, but that, of course, means two points for Carthage on a safety (9-0 Carthage, 10:59 left in the first quarter).
Carthage got the free kick and possession at its own 43-yard-line, and surprisingly, didn’t get the first down, a turnover on downs near midfield. Quarterback Jett Surratt was picked off by L-E‘s Bryston Cornelious, and the Leopards went on a seven-play drive to Carthage’s 15.
But a fumble, recovered by linebacker Carson Crawford, gave the ‘Dawgs the ball back at their own 14.
Surratt connected with J.D. Edwards for a 13-yard gain, and then K.J. Edwards reeled off a 20-yard run to midfield. It was the Edwards Show continuing on the next play, a pass from Surratt to J.D., down to L-E’s 10.
Right after that, with 29 seconds left in the first quarter, Surratt hit Crawford, a tight end on offense, for a 2-yard score (16-0 Carthage).
The Leopards still couldn’t get anything going, really, on their next possession, and punted again – and a fumble, recovered by Carthage’s Tylin Williams at L-E’s 11, would lead to another score. Running back Benny Smith scored on a 2-yard run, just 13 seconds of game-time after Williams’ fumble recovery (23-0 Carthage).
L-E managed to put a drive together – but it stalled, thanks to Carthage’s defense tightening up, at the Bulldogs’ 22, a turnover on downs.
Surratt would find Junior Henderson for a 7-yard touchdown with 6 ½ minutes left in the second quarter (30-0, after Lopez’s extra point). And on the Leopards’ next possession, an interception by Crawford, bound for Colorado after high school. Crawford picked it off and went into the end zone, a pick-six for the score, and Lopez’s point after gave the Bulldogs a 37-0 lead.
Carthage’s next possession began at the L-E 35, and the ‘Dawgs gave it to KJ Edwards three straight carries, down to the Leopards’ 13.
Surratt would hit Jaydon Lewis for a 5-yard TD pass (2:56 left in the half, 44-0 Carthage), and the ‘Dawgs wrapped up the scoring in the first half with a 22-yard field goal by Lopez.
The second half was a running clock, with Carthage’s starters out early. There was no second-half scoring.
