CARTHAGE, Mo. — The second lightning strike of the evening brought COC foes Carl Junction and Carthage’s Week 2 matchup at David Haffner Stadium to an early conclusion Friday night.
The second, that is, if you don’t count four quick-strike plays that added up to 28 points for the Tigers — the only scoring of the evening for either side.
With 3:48 remaining in the first half, play was suspended for 30 minutes after a streak of lightning was spotted in the area. That interrupted a sluggish, stop-and-start first half for both offenses as the teams traded punts and turnovers all the way into halftime.
Tigers coach Jon Guidie said those breaks were just what his team needed to adapt its approach after the Bulldogs’ defense “threw something at us we didn’t expect.”
“The first half was just kind of each team throwing some jabs, throwing some jabs, trying to figure each other out,” Guidie said. “I thought they did a good job defensively on us in the first half, we were able to come in and make some quick adjustments right there that I thought paid dividends in the second half.”
They paid. Handsomely.
After totaling 54 rushing yards on 11 carries in the first half, junior running back Luke Gall came out for the second and reeled off 188 yards — on three plays, all touchdown runs.
In all, he finished with 282 yards on 22 rushes.
The fourth explosive play that keyed a Carthage score was one of only a handful of passes thrown by senior and first-year starting quarterback Caden Kabance. From his own 45-yard line, Kabance faked a handoff and instead found tight end Tyler Willis between the hashmarks for a 37-yard completion down to the Bulldog 8.
Once again, Gall punched it in, though he had significantly less ground to cover for his fourth score of the game.
“Offense in general, we sputtered in the first half,” Guidie said. “I think our offensive line figured some things out and Luke was able to be Luke.”
With less than 10 minutes left in the game, a second strike was spotted, prompting the officials to again suspend play, but instead, both teams agreed to end the game.
For Carl Junction, the theme of the night was close, but not close enough.
Four times, the Bulldogs crossed into Tiger territory, twice within the 30, and attempted fourth-down conversions. All four failed, resulting in turnovers on downs.
Carl Junction’s offense primarily rode the arm of senior quarterback Kyler Perry as the Bulldogs finished with a negative team rushing total. Perry finished 15-for-25 passing for 75 yards.
Carthage stayed undefeated on the year, moving to 2-0, while Carl Junction’s record evens at 1-1.
The Tigers travel to face Neosho in Week 3 while the Bulldogs entertain the Branson Pirates.
CARTHAGE 28, CARL JUNCTION 0
Carl Junction 0 0 0 0 — 0
Carthage 0 0 14 14 — 28
SCORING SUMMARY
Third Quarter
CAR: Luke Gall 46 run (Mejia kick)
CAR: Gall 77 run (Mejia kick)
Fourth Quarter
CAR: Gall 65 run (Mejia kick)
CAR: Gall 5 run (Mejia kick)
