09/16/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARMI - Senior running back Isaac King has had quite a career running the football so far for head coach Kurt Simon and his Carmi-White County Bulldogs.

On Friday night at home against Black Diamond Conference rival Christopher/Zeigler-Royalton, the 5-9, 180 senior 'added and padded' his totals.

King rushed seven times for 187-yards and four touchdowns in leading the Bulldogs to an impressive 53-16 victory.

With the triumph, CWC stands at 4-0 after having outscored each victim so far by a combined 201-40.

Teammates Draxtyn Aud, also a 5-9, 180 senior, added two rushing scores and junior running back Andrew Dodgson also contributed to the ground dominance with a touchdown scamper of his own.

Quarterback Warren Legg, another of the senior leaders, completed his only pass attempt.

His touchdown toss to Cade Allen account for the other CWC TD as they scored early and often to pick up the convincing win.

As for Christopher/Zeigler-Royalton and first year head coach Grant Gordon, there weren't many highlights, especially defensively as they surrendered large chunks of real estate every time the Bulldogs had the ball.

Six-one, 175 junior running back Briar Rowland led the Bearcats attack with 105-yards rushing on 12-carries.

Rowland accounted for one of the two CZR tallies.

The other score came on a pass from senior quarterback Trey Cole to sophomore Aidan Skropka.

"We are well aware that they (Christopher/Zeigler-Royalton) are in a rebuilding mode but we have to get better each week because the games aren't always going to be like this all of the time and I thought we did," said Coach Simon. "We'll learn from our film tomorrow morning. I thought that our pass rush was not on key. We were letting their quarterback break contain and he's a good player (Cole). But all-in-all, we feel pretty confident. Our strength is up front."

By the time CZR knew what had hit them, the game was 'in the bag' for CWC.

It took just five plays from scrimmage on the opening drive of the game for the Bulldogs to find the CZR end-zone.

CWC went 60-yards in a 'blink of an eye' to post the first score of the contest.

King ran it three of those plays, going 19-yards on the first play and he finished the drive with a 12-yard run with just 9:47 left in the opening quarter.

Kicker Mitchel Edwards' PAT kick was good for a 7-0 lead.

The Bearcats' first possession didn't go well with the visitors picking up just four yards in four plays, failing on fourth-and-six on their own 31.

Legg dropped back to pass on the Bulldogs' first play after the turnover on downs.

He looked deep down field to his left and found Skropka wide open down the sideline.

The 'pitch and catch' was a quick CWC score.

Although the PAT was no good, Carmi-White County was in control.

CZR fared no better on their second possession, running three plays for minus one-yard.

Again the Bearcats failed on fourth-and-long in their own territory.

A run by King and two consecutive rushes by Aud covered the 31-yards in a hurry on the CWC possession after the turnover on downs.

The 12-yard Aud run for a score followed by another botched PAT had the Bulldogs in business up 19-0 with 4:44 showing on the first quarter clock.

CZR finally moved the ball on its third try, resulting in the Bearcats' first points of the contest.

Facing a third-and-six from their own 32, Cole connected on a pair of first down passes in succession.

Both of the receptions were by sophomore Izreul Dejear.

The first came over the middle for nine-yards while the second produced a 26-yard gain into Bulldogs' territory.

Two receptions by Skropka got the 'Cats on the board.

A fourth-and-five from the Bulldogs' 15, Cole found Skropka for a TD.

A two-point conversion pass from Cole to Dejear completed the drive and breathed some life into the Bearcats' at 19-8 with just :36.6 left.

That was as close as CZR would get.

It took CWC one play to retaliate.

King scored again on the first play from scrimmage after the kick.

This time the senior took the hand off, ran to the right side and took it all the way to the house on a 54-yard run.

Aud finished the drive with a PAT run for a 27-8 spread with :26.6 remaining in the opening stanza.

(CONTINUED)
Things went from bad to worse in the second quarter, with CZR's next drive resulting in four consecutive failed passes.

One play later, with the ball at the Bearcats 33, it was King again as the senior wasted little time covering the 33-yards to paydirt.

Aud added a two-point conversion that pushed the margin to 35-8 with 11:32 to go before the half.

CZR turned the ball over on their next effort, with CWC junior defensive back Landon Driscoll intercepting a Cole pass and returning it to the CZR 26.

Four plays later, Aud added to the scoring night for the Bulldogs with a four-yard TD carry.

With just 6:21 left in the half, CWC led 41-8 after a missed extra point kick.

The hosts tacked on one more score before halftime.

Forced to punt, CZR mishandled the snap and CWC took over at the Bearcats' 13.

Dodgson got in on the scoring fun, running those final 13-yards on the first play for a 47-8 lead with 4:32 left.

After picking up a pair of first downs, CZR turned it back over with a Cole interception by Bulldogs' junior Trayton Vickers, which was returned to the Bearcats 21.

Although CWC could have probably scored from there in the final minute, Coach Simon and Crew decided to take a knee and go to the locker room up big at halftime.

"The big thing with us is we can't have any turnovers. And when you get into big games where things are tight, those can make the difference in the game," said Coach Simon. "Our kids are really disciplined right now in hanging onto the ball."

The Bearcats started the second half with the ball.

After picking up a first down, they gave it back to Carmi-White County and the Bulldogs quickly scored.

Vickers came up with another interception, returning it to the CZR 38.

It took King just one play, going the distance after taking a hand off.

King, while going to his right, switched directions by cutting across the field.

He took it the rest of the way for the Bulldogs' final score of the night.

Although the PAT failed, CWC triggered the mercy rule continuous clock with 7:44 left at 53-8.

The Bearcats got one final score in the third quarter.

A 14-yard run by Dodgson and a successful PAT run by Cole closed the scoring with 3:20 remaining.

Mostly reserves from CWC finished out the game with the Bearcats turning the ball over on downs in the final moments during the continuous time.

During the first three quarters of play, Coach Simon's club didn't face a third down and scored on every possession.

"We have good, disciplined kids. A good collective group led by our seniors," said Coach Simon. "They prepare and show up everyday. They are easily motivated. When you get a bunch of kids that are easily motivated it makes it a lot of fun."

Cole ended up going 14-of-27 passing for 106-yards and a touchdown.

However his three interceptions were drive breakers.

His top target was Dejear with eight-completions for 61-yards while teammate Skropka caught two passes for 30-yards and a TD.

Sophomore wide out Kaden Anderson caught one of Coles tosses for 13-yards.

The Bearcats lost three turnovers and were just 5-of-13 on third downs, 2-of-10 on fourth downs as the CWC defense dominated most of the action.

Also for the Bulldogs Branten Stockton, 6-0, 180 senior, carried the ball four times for 30-yards.

CWC will host Fairfield in a key BDC matchup next Friday while CZR will try to improve with a game at home against their Franklin County rivals Sesser-Valier/Waltonville next Friday night.

"Next week we have Fairfield coming in here next week and we haven't beaten them in I don't know how many years," said Coach Simon. "We know they will bring their best. They have a good enough team to do what they do. We will have a challenging week with 100 degrees down the street.