Local Sports
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Main HeadlineSTAFF WRITER
BASCOM — Usually only when things are at their worst, will Carey go to the air.
On Friday, the Blue Devils became Air Worst.
Carey quarterback Tyler Brodman attempted an unheard of 11 passes, completing five for 98 yards.
But it was Brodman’s feet on a 68-yard touchdown run that helped Carey to a soggy 14-7 Midland Athletic League win over defending champion Hopewell-Loudon.
Carey remains the league’s only unbeaten team at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the MAL.
“I’d much rather run the ball,” said Carey coach Todd Worst. “(Hopewell-Loudon) did a great job of taking away the option and running between the tackles, though.
“We had to mix in passing, because they were committed to (stopping) the run.”
Hopewell-Loudon did a great job of slowing Carey’s rushing attack, which averages 282 yards per game. The Blue Devils were limited to 167 yards, but 68 of them came on one big play.
On a second-and-11, Brodman ran into the left side of the line. He seemed bottled up, but shot out of the pack and ran into the secondary. Near the H-L 15-yard line he faked out and cut in, causing H-L’s Jaren Wickham to slip.
Brodman and his escort, lineman D.J. Dyer went into the end zone to celebrate the score.
“I kept my feet going and kept moving. Pretty soon I was out in the open all by myself. I couldn’t believe it,” Brodman said.
“D.J. Dyer is always right there beside me. I was trying not to let him catch me because the last game he tackled me out in the middle.”
H-L coach Brian Colatruglio felt that was the only blemish on his defense’s record Friday.
“We had one bad defensive play. Even that, we stoned the play and he got out of the pile,” said Colatruglio, whose team falls to 5-2, 2-2, the first time since 2003 H-L has lost two regular season games.
“We defensed it well, but didn’t end the play.”
Just 2:18 later, the Blue Devils forced a Hopewell-Loudon punt. Cy Strahm caught the ball at the 31, headed up the middle, juked a bit and was off to the races for a 69-yard punt return score.
“It was good blocking. Everyone picked up good blocks and did their job. We practiced all week for the middle return,” Strahm said.
The teams traded punts into the fourth quarter. Hopewell-Loudon’s Miles Chapman came in off the left end and blocked a Justin Jacoby punt. The Chieftains took over at the 23 and two plays later Matt Brickner went in from 13 yards out.
The Chieftains drove to Carey’s 39 late in the game, but Ethan Fuller was incomplete on four straight passes.
Fuller had trouble connecting all night. He was just six-of-28 passing for 53 yards, 39 of which came on the final drive.
“Our timing was off and we didn’t do a great job in the passing game,” Colatruglio said.
While H-L was having trouble in the passing game, Carey used the air to its advantage. Brodman was 14-of-39 passing for 217 yards on the season prior to Friday.
“We knew we had to mix it up to get the win. We’ve always wanted to go spread and that is the closest we’ll get,” Brodman said.
“Tyler throws the ball pretty well if he can see where he has to get the ball,” Worst said. “We work on passing in practice. People probably don’t believe it, but we work on it a lot in practice.
“I just wanted incompletions if it wasn’t going to be complete. We didn’t want interceptions.”
Both teams had first-half scoring opportunities. Hopewell-Loudon drove to the Carey 12 in the first quarter, but Fuller was incomplete on third and fourth down. The Chieftains got to the Blue Devils’ 22 and 15, but turned the ball over on downs both times.
Carey drove to Hopewell-Loudon’s five late in the first half, but Brodman threw an incomplete fourth down pass.
“I was impressed with the defense. We left a couple of guys open a bit, but (H-L) couldn’t get the ball to them tonight,” said Worst, whose team had five interceptions go through its hands.
“The offense made plays, defense made plays and special teams made plays.”
And the Blue Devils found a new attack.
Air Worst.
Carey 0 0 14 0 — 14
Hopewell-Loudon 0 0 0 7 — 7
Third Quarter
CAR — Brodman 68 run (Strahm kick
CAR — Strahm 69 punt return (Strahm kick)
Fourth Quarter
H-L — M. Brickner 13 run (Ickes kick)
Carey H-Loudon
First Downs 7 13
Rushes-yards 40-167 34-149
Passing Yards 98 63
Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0 7-29-0
Punts-Avg. 6-30.7 6-33.5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 9-85 1-10
individual statistics
rushing — Carey, Norden 12-47, Brodman 11-89, Phoenix 9-39, Jacoby 5-5, Team 3-(-13). Hopewell-Loudon, Kapelka 12-66, M. Brickner 19-75, Roush 3-8.
passing — Carey, Brodman 5-11-0, 98 yards. Hopewell-Loudon, Fuller 6-28-0, 53; M. Brickner 1-1-0, 10.
receiving — Carey, Strahm 4-83, Phoenix 1-12, Jacoby 1-3. Hopewell-Loudon, Chapman 2-14, M. Brickner 1-0, Wickham 2-10, Harrison 2-39.
Heiman, 419-422-5151,
markheiman@thecourier.com
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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