10/21/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
BRIDGEPORT - According to Red Hill head coach Billy Gray, he seldom ever gets loud when addressing his team during halftime's of games in his many years as a head coach.

On Saturday afternoon he made an exception.

After playing a pretty good opening quarter and a 'no-so-good' second, Coach Collins went into the locker room with a lot to say with his team trailing 16-7.

“The second quarter was terrible for us. You don't know me but I normally don't yell and scream but at halftime I got into them (team) pretty good. Normally I go to the stage with my assistant coaches first but today I went straight into the locker room,” said Coach Gray.

The Salukis responded to the message in the second half, scoring 24-unanswered points on the way to a 31-22 victory in the regular season finale for both teams.

In the matchup of 4-4 teams, who each needed a victory to make it into the IHSA Playoffs, the hosts advanced to the 1A bracket at 5-4.

Red Hill took the second half kickoff and marched down the field for a score and then took the lead with a fluke touchdown on a punt return.

A third consecutive touchdown, with three-straight successful two-point conversions, put the Salukis in command.

The defense took care of the rest for the third consecutive victory to close the regular season, which earned Coach Gray his sixth postseason appearance and second-consecutive berth.

Carlyle and head coach Nick Wolf finished 4-5 for the second straight season, failing to make the playoffs as the program was in search of its 14th appearance and first since 2017.

After playing a pretty good first half with a pair of scoring drives and successful PAT's, the Indians squandered a third scoring chance in the final seconds of the second quarter with a turnover.

Red Hill took control in the third quarter to end the Carlyle season.

The Salukis stopped Carlyle on the opening drive of the game and then marched 51-yards on 13-plays, consuming 7:44 of the first quarter clock.

Red Hill converted a pair of third down chances on the touchdown drive with senior running back Holden Jacobsen carrying the ball five times, finalized by his 1-yard touchdown run.

The lone PAT kick attempt in the game by Red Hill senior Silas Parrott made it 7-0 Salukis with just :10.4 remaining in the opening period.

The rest of the half belonged to Carlyle as they scored a pair of TD's.

Two huge runs by the Indians' seniors Chase Moyer and Dakota Rakers got them on the score board.

Moyer went 25-yards up the middle to get the ball to the Red Hill 35.

Rakers, on the next play, finished the drive with a run to the right where he cut back to the middle of the field and raced to the endzone for the first Carlyle points.

A two-point conversion run put the Indians in front with 10:21 left in the second quarter.

Following a on-side kick recovery near midfield, Red Hill moved into Indians' territory where they were stopped on fourth-and-one at the Carlyle 38.

It took 12-plays but the Indians padded the lead by going 62-yards total with a one-yard TD run by junior Brody Diekemper and a Rakers' two-point conversion for a 16-7 advantage.

Coach Wolf and his club appeared ready to add to the lead with another chance in the final minute of the second quarter.

Stopping Red Hill deep in the Salukis' end of the field, Carlyle ended up with the ball at the 33-yard line with :36.8 left in the half.

However a trick play, halfback pass from Rakers was intercepted by senior defensive back Reece Ralston.

After Red Hill ran out the final seconds, the Salukis were down 16-7 and Coach Gray wasn't happy.

“We just didn't play Red Hill football there in the second quarter,” said Coach Gray. “The first scoring drive we ate up seven minutes. Things went pretty smoothly on that drive and I think that the kids thought this was going to be an easy day.”

This mentor had much more to smile about in the second half.

A 69-yard drive to open the second half took just seven-plays to reach pay-dirt.

Five-nine senior running back Hayden Arbuckle finished off the drive with a 38-yard run down the right sideline for the touchdown.

A two-point run, also by the senior, cut the lead to 16-15 with 8:18 showing on the third quarter clock.

“I think we just came out a little flat (second half) and you can't do that against a really well coached team like Red Hill. They took advantage of it, us not being ready,” said Coach Wolf. “Well coached teams will find your weakness.”

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The next possession for Carlyle turned into a disaster of epic proportions.

After miss handling the kickoff, the Indians started a drive on their own 16.

Facing a fourth-and-11 from its 15, Carlyle senior punter Gavin Butler kicked into a strong south wind.

The ball went up into the air and barely made it to the line of scrimmage.

However the back spin of the ball after hitting the ground propelled the ball back towards the Carlyle goal line.

Unsure of what to do, none of the Indians' players went for the football.

Red Hill senior Gage Jones knew what to do.

The 6-1 lineman followed the ball into the endzone, covering the ball for officially a zero-yard punt return for a touchdown.

The bizarre chain of events put Red Hill back into the lead and took much of the wind (figuratively) out of Carlyle.

Another two-point conversion run, this time by Jacobsen, made it 23-16 Salukis over a stunned Indians' squad.

“Not scoring before halftime, you've got to get points out of that (field position) and on the punt, I don't know if he (Butler) didn't know if he was supposed to touch it or not but you've got to be heads up when that happens,” said Coach Wolf.

Helped by a 35-yard run by Diekemper and a seven-yard run on a key third down by the junior back, Carlyle found itself in the red zone at the Red Hill 14 on its next drive.

But the drive stalled when the Indians were stopped on a fourth-and-16 at the 26.

Senior running back Sam Stimler romped 48-yards on the first play after the change of possession, get the ball to the Carlyle 32 for Red Hill.

They took nearly four minutes off of the clock by the time Jacobsen scored his second TD on a one-yard run.

Stimler plowed in for the two-point PAT for a 31-16 advantage with 9:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Carlyle took less than a minute to score on the next time they had the ball.

Starting on their own 41, Diekemper took the first play 58-yards up the middle all the way to the Red Hill one.

Moyer ran up the middle for the score on the next play but the Indians' failed to get the two-point conversion, leaving them down 31-22.

The final chance for Carlyle came late in the game as the Salukis couldn't run out the clock.

The Indians stopped Red Hill on a fourth-and-one as Stimler was halted on a run just short.

A measurement by the chain gang turned the ball over to Carlyle on the Indians' 20 with 4:14 left.

The Indians' drive and their season came to a close eight-plays later.

Quarterback Hunter Taylor, who attempted just six passes in the game, had his final throw deflected and intercepted by sophomore quarterback and defensive back Avery Arbuckle.

A return up the sidelines and a late hit tacked on more yardage leaving the Salukis with the ball at the Carlyle 29 with 1:29 left.

A final run of the game by Jacobsen went for 11-yards and a game-clinching first down.

Three consecutive kneel downs by Arbuckle secured another playoff appearance for the Salukis, and the second in a row.

“It comes down to blocking and tackling and the team that blocks and tackles better is going to win. That was us in the second half,” said Coach Gray. “It was a great day. This team deserves it. They're young and inexperienced but they're gaining that experience and that is what has pushed us these last four games.”

Carlyle's season closed at 4-5 as Coach Wolf's club got 149-yards on the ground from Diekemper (19-attempts) and 77-yards on 12-carries from Rakers.

Moyer finished with seven-attempts for 47-yards.

Jacobsen led the Red Hill rushing attack with 21-attempts for 114-yards while Stimler (10-for-78-yards) and Hayden Arbuckle (8-for-59-yards) helped push the Salukis into a first-round trip to Camp Point Central next Saturday at 2 pm.

“This will be our 18th (playoff) appearance and we take pride in saying that,” said Coach Gray. “I know we're going to draw a one-seed (Camp Point Central) but you play the game for a reason. They put their pants on the same way we do and we'll see what happens.”