10/18/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARTERVILLE - The Carterville Lions led 21-14 at halftime of their conference showdown on Friday night at home against rival Murphysboro.

After intermission, on its first two possessions after taking the second half kickoff, Coach Brett Diel's club sputtered.

Consecutive three-and-outs led to a Red Devils' field goal that handed Murphysboro some momentum and closed the gap to 21-17.

The third time the hosts touched the ball they got a big time play that Coach Diel called a “game changer.”

Forcing a Murphysboro punt, Carterville return man Jonathan Miller jaunted 57-yards down the right sideline all the way to the Murphysboro five-yard line.

Miller, who also have a key punt return in a win over Harrisburg in Week 6, helped switch the momentum.

Running back Luke Johnson powered into the endzone on the next play, giving Carterville a 28-17 advantage.

The Lions defense took care of the rest, holding the Red Devils without a point until the last two minutes of the contest in a 28-25 triumph to give Coach Diel and his club the outright SIRR Ohio Division title with a 4-0 mark.

Carterville sits at 6-2 heading into the regular season finale with Anna-Jonesboro next Friday night with a playoff berth secured.

Murphysboro is also 6-2 on the campaign and 3-1 in the division.

“Then our defense was 'nails' tonight. Those guys play hard. Murphysboro's offense is legit, they're tough to stop. Our defensive staff does a tremendous job and put together a plan for the game and our guys executed. They were really physical tonight.”

The game featured big plays by both teams but defensively the Lions were a tad bit better, stopping the Red Devils twice in the second half late, including a fourth down at the Carterville 17 in the third quarter and a three-and-out in the final frame.

Coach Gary Carter's Red Devils got a big play late from quarterback Gibson Fager and running back Tyjaire Kellum late in the contest.

The pair hooked up on a 78-yard touchdown pass and the subsequent two-point PAT made things interesting with 1:48 remaining.

But, needing an onside kick as they were out of timeouts, Murphyboro's kickoff went high and out of bounds, giving Carterville the ball and the division crown.

Fager picked up half of his passing yards on that final throw.

The senior completed 8-of-16 for 156-yards and two TD's in the defeat.

Kellum was not only the top passing target but he led the Red Devils with 127-yards rushing on 18-attempts, scoring on a long touchdown run in the opening quarter.

Junior quarterback Andrew Johnson completed just 4-of-11 passes for Carterville.

However two of the tosses were touchdowns of 62 and 16-yards to seniors Nickolas Bisching and Riley Crain respectively.

But the strongest part of the Lions' effort on Friday night was the defense as they managed to keep the high scoring Red Devils from getting on a roll.

Murphysboro, who had averaged 48 points a game in its first seven contests, were kept way short of that total in Week 8.

A. Johnson was also stellar defensively with 15 tackles, with seven of them being solo while L. Johnson also added seven solo efforts.

Bisching, who also plays some QB for Carterville, got the Lions on the board with a one-yard touchdown keeper.

This capped a short 29-yard drive that was set up on a failed fake punt by Murphysboro.

Fager, who is also the punter for Coach Carter, took the long snap and headed up the field only to be stopped at their own 29.

Two pass completions to senior Parker Poole and senior Mason Watts gave the Lions a first-and-goal at the Red Devils' three.

This set up the Bisching score two plays later.

“When you play in big games you have to make big plays. We had a couple of huge pass plays we haven't worked on but they were there and our guys recognized it,” said Coach Diel.