10/08/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
MADISON - Going into his teams' Saturday afternoon game at Madison, head coach Brett Diel and his Carterville Lions wanted to be 'workmanlike' in their approach.

That is what they did.

State-ranked and unbeaten Carterville took an early lead and was never threatened in a 45-19 win at the Madison Football Complex.

While some may look at the score and believe it to be closer than it was, the real stars of this matinee were the Lions' defenders who pitched a first half shutout before the second and third string kids finished the final two quarters of continuous clock.

In a matchup of a 4A team against a 1A club Carterville held the Trojans to just six first downs and only 96-yards of total offense in the entire game as they romped to a 45-0 halftime lead in the victory.

Madison and head coach Tavares Young saw their record slip to 3-3 on the season with two games remaining.

Playing an eight-game schedule, the Trojans still need two wins to become playoff eligible.

Carterville spent most of the first half in Madison territory and they scored 31 of their points in the first quarter.

Senior running back Bryce Smith carried the ball just 10 times but ended up with 147-yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Quarterback Andrew Hellriegel was 7-of-10 passing for 38-yards and two TD's, one each tossed to senior wide receivers Peyton Bittle and Bryce Burkey.

The defense scored twice themselves in the first half as they took Madison out of its comfort zone in the first few plays, doing the job on keeping the fast Madison skill position players from breaking containment.

“We had a bit of a change up today by playing a 'three-front' for the first time this year and they (Madison) a couple of times were able to get outside on their 'jet-sweep' but we were able to work on a changed look for us defensively,” said Coach Diel.

Senior defensive end Talon Walker along with classmate and lineman Riley Bradford came up huge, racking up five and four solo tackles in the contest.

The first big play of the game came on Madison's third play from scrimmage.

With the ball on their own three-yard facing a third-and-19, Trojans' junior quarterback Derrion Enlow dropped back into his own endzone where he was ambushed by Walker, who took Enlow down for a safety with 10:37 left in the first quarter.

After getting the kick and returning the ball to the Madison 49, Carterville took just five plays to score.

Hellriegel completed a couple of passes and Smith rushed for 28-yards on his first touch.

Smith then finished the short drive with a 16-yard TD run.

The Lions lined up for the PAT kick but the Trojans were called for two-straight off-sides calls, pushing the ball to the one.

Carterville then just rammed the ball in for two-points on a run by Smith for a 10-0 lead.

Madison managed to get one first down on its next possession but a bad snap on a punt attempt gave Carterville back the ball in the Trojans's territory.

Hellriegel completed passes to Bittle and senior Nolan Hartford on the next Carterville drive.

Hartford's catch went for 18-yards and Hellriegel found Bittle down the right sideline as the senior caught the pass and reached the right endzone pylon for a 14-yard touchdown reception with 4:31 left in the first quarter.

The successful point after from sophomore kicker Riley Crain pushed the advantage to 17-0.

Madison failed to move the ball on its next possession but they nearly got a first down.

With a third-and-17 from their own 41, Enlow threw a long pass to senior Carlis Wilson Jr.

Carterville was called for pass interference and the 15-yard penalty got the ball to the Lions' 44, leaving them two-yards short.

On the subsequent play, however, Enlow dropped back again only to be hit by Carterville defenders Zachariah Miller (junior) and Luke Johnson (sophomore).

The hits forced a fumble where Miller ended up with the recovery in Madison territory.

Two Smith runs set up another Hellriegel touchdown.

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The senior ran over and around Madison defenders and all the way to the endzone from 22-yards out.

Another Crain kick pushed the spread to 24-0 with 1:05 left in the quarter.

Things went from bad to much worse the next time Coach Young's offense took the field.

A first down pass from Enlow to junior Jaylene Williams was good for 10-yards and another Madison first down.

But the next pass by Enlow was intercepted by sophomore defensive back Nickolas Bisching.

The corner back grabbed the errant pass and took it 41-yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.

The PAT made it 31-0 with :20.3.

Madison reached the Carterville side of the field on a first down pass from Enlow to sophomore Steven Moore for 15-yards and a first down at the Carterville 40.

But the next three plays lost 24-yards, making it fourth-and-long.

A Madison punt actually pinned the Lions back at their own 25.

Smith and Hellriegel continued to make runs while breaking tackles as they moved down the field to the Madison 15.

A pass interference call set up Smith for his second TD run from seven-yards out.

The Crain kick made it 38-0.

There was a scary moment on the next set of downs for the Trojans.

Six-two sophomore lineman Kyron Trammel was injured on a run by Moore.

As a precautionary measure with a suspected neck injury, Trammel was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

The report from Madison on Sunday was that he was okay and resting at home.

The Trojans' drive ended on downs at their own 39.

Carterville finished their scoring for the day taking just four plays to reach the endzone with two rushes by Hartford, a run by Smith and a 12-yard pass from Hellriegel to Burkey with 3:14 left in the half for a TD.

The final PAT of Crain's day on the touchdown capped off the scoring.

The Carterville TD made sure that the second half would be a mercy rule clock.

To the Trojans credit they did some good things in the fourth quarter against the Carterville reserves, whose talent level would be an equivalent to a 1A team they might face if they qualify for the playoffs.

Moore scored on the second play of the fourth quarter on a 14-yard run and then added another a defensive score as he scooped up a Carterville fumble for a 15-yard return.

Williams closed the scoring on a 10-yard run with under three minutes left.

Enlow ended up being the top Trojan on the ground with five carries from 20-yards.

Wilson Jr. had six tries for 19-yards and Moore ran five times for 15.

Enlow was just 3-of-10 passing for 39-yards and an interception.

The Trojans will travel to Anna-Jonesboro next Friday night and then will host Wesclin on Saturday, October 22.

Two wins by Coach Young's club would make them eligible but it won't guarantee a spot in the 1A playoffs.

Carterville has work to do, playing Pinckneyville next Friday night at home and then they close the regular season schedule at Harrisburg on the 21st.

With the two wins the Lions would go undefeated in the regular season for the first time since their 11-1 team from the 2014-15 season.

“You know it's tough sometimes when you go on the road for two hours in the middle of the day and then at the end of the first quarter it's 31-0. But we were able to finish off the first half and we're happy to get on the bus 7-0,” said Coach Diel about his team staying focused.