#44 Zackery Semrak flies in for one of his 9 tackles as the Dragons defeated Wylie 28-3 to win the Bi-District Championship at Dragon Stadium. Photo by SnappedDragons.com/S. Johnson
The Carroll football's defense kept Wylie out of the endzone the entire game on Friday night, cruising through the first round of the playoffs. They defeated the Pirates, 28-3, in a game that saw Jake Murphy pick off the quarterback for the fourth time.
The senior safety leads the team in interceptions, and in the game added three pass deflections and five tackles. Zion Sales also nabbed an interception, adding five passes defensed and a tackle. Sales leads the team in knockdowns with 20 all season.
In total, the Dragon defense held the Pirates to 285 yards. Jackson Canter, Luke Jeter and Eric Spitler all registered sacks to crush the passing game. Meanwhile, the unit held the running game to just 75 yards, with the help of a team-high 13 tackles from First Financial Bank Player of the Week Jacob Copeland and the support of 11 tackles from John Miscoll.
On offense, Audricke Gaines carried the worlkload, rushing 26 times for 154 yards and a score. Jack Johansson assisted with nine attempts for 102 yards and a touchdown. Mason Holmes went nine for 20 in the air. He passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Clayton Keyes was the leading receiver with six catches for 133 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Davis caught the other touchdown on one of his two catches. He had 66 receiving yards on the night.
DeSoto will be a formidable opponent for the Dragons in the next round, as the remain undefeated through the season at 11-0. Carroll, on the other hand, boasts a 10-1 record, not having lost a game since the season opener against Union. The Class 6A Division II Region area round game begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Plano's Tom Kimbrough Stadium.
Statistics
Offense
Holmes 9/20, 201 yards, 2 TD, INT
Gaines 26 rush, 154 yards, TD
Johansson 9 rush, 102 yards, TD; 1 rec, 2 yards
Tre Sledge 5 rush, 6 yards
Will Bowers 2 rush, -5 yards
Keyes 6 rec, 133 yards, TD
Davis 2 rec, 66 yards, TD
Defense
Copeland 13 tackles, TFL, 2 PD
Miscoll 11 tackles, 2 pressures
Zachery Semrak 9 tackles, TFL, PD, 4 pressures
Matt Werner 8 tackles, PD
Barrett Buck 5 tackles, TFL, 2 PD
Canter 5 tackles, TFL, sack, 3 pressures
Murphy 5 tackles, INT, 3 PD
Spitler 4 tackles, TFL, sack, 2 PD, 2 pressures
R.J. Mickens 4 tackles, 3 PD
Jeter 3 tackles, sack, 7 pressures
Ryan Thompson 3 tackles
Jacob Doddridge 1 tackle, 2 pressures
Zion Sales 1 tackle, INT, 5 PD
Grant Phelps 1 pressure
Special Teams
Ramage 4/4 PAT; 6 punts, 37.5 ave, 3 inside the 20
Johansson 1 ret, 9 yards
1 of 7
2 of 7
3 of 7
4 of 7
5 of 7
6 of 7
7 of 7