CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Late in the third quarter, Patrick Carlton had already thrown two interceptions and lost two fumbles. His entire offense had struggled, but the Carthage Tigers trailed by just a touchdown. For one drive, though, the senior quarterback put everything together.
Carlton orchestrated a 16-play, 68-yard march to the end zone, twice converting on fourth down, including the game-winning touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 8 yard line. With 5:53 to play, Carlton found Hudson Moore in the front corner of the end zone to lift Carthage (2-0) to a 21-20 victory over the Carl Junction Bulldogs (1-1) on Friday night.
“He kept his head in the game tonight,” Carthage coach Jon Guidie said. “He showed a lot of poise and a lot of leadership in the huddle, on the sideline. And then when the game was on the line, this kid wanted the football. That throw he made on fourth down and goal, that throw was a big-time throw. Hell, he threw it from the right hash, threw a 12-yard out over there in the (left) corner. That was huge, that says a lot about Patrick right there.”
The lead that throw gave the Tigers was their first of the game as the Bulldogs looked willing and able to hand the defending Class 5 state champions their first loss of the season, even into the final minute.
On its final drive of the game, Carl Junction was in Carthage’s territory within three plays, thanks to back-to-back first-down passes by senior quarterback Alex Baker. Baker, though, was pressured and sacked by sophomore linebacker Eli Sneed, moving the Bulldogs back nearer midfield than the end zone. Three incomplete passes later, CJ had turned the ball over on downs and Carthage bled the final 53 seconds out of the clock.
“They continued to control the ball the entire third quarter,” Carl Junction coach Doug Buckmaster said. “We may have had, maybe, I don’t know, eight or nine, 10 snaps the entire third quarter. But the difference was we were defending the heck out of their run game for the most part, and we put them in those third-and-longs and fourth-and-longs, and then we gave up first downs.”
Carl Junction jumped out to a 13-0 lead on back-to-back pass touchdowns from Baker to Drew Patterson and Cole Stewart. Carthage fumbled the kickoff return after Patterson’s score, and Baker hit Stewart for a 37-yard touchdown on the very next play. The two teams then traded another score each, but Carthage held Carl Junction down and managed 14 unanswered points to escape with the win.
For the second straight week, the Tigers notched a victory despite giving their opponent multiple extra possessions. The kickoff return fumble combined with Carlton’s miscues added up to a five-turnover night. In a 35-14 win over Ozark last week, Carthage gave the ball away four times.
“As a coach, you’re always frustrated and disappointed that your team’s doing this stuff, but at the same time, they’re finding a way to overcome it,” Guidie said. “And so it is negative, but hopefully that becomes a positive later on down the road.”
Carthage will host Neosho next week, while Carl Junction travels to Branson.
