Carrollton and Camp Point rematch in round two of the playoffs again

CARROLLTOn - It’s rare to be viewed as underdogs if you’re wearing a Carrollton Hawks jersey.

The narrative that Carrollton head coach, Nick Flowers has preached all week is how the Hawks don’t have any pressure on their shoulders.

“There’s no pressure on us,” Nick Flowers said. “I keep telling our boys the pressure’s on them not on us. We can go out there and play to win and control what we can do well. We’re going to have a huge crowd. It’s going to be a heck of an atmosphere on Saturday.”

The 10th-seed Hawks took down the 7th-seed Sesser-Valier-Waltonville Red Devils 37-14 in Sesser last Saturday. That means Carrollton will host the 2nd-seed Panthers (9-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Carrollton believes they’re riding on some momentum, especially how they took care of business in the second half against the Red Devils by shutting them out 21-0 in the second half.

“We dominated on both sides of the ball and special teams,” Nick Flowers said. “That was a great way to end that first-round victory with that momentum and level of play coming into this round two game.”

Two weeks ago the Hawks, who had to battle from behind virtually the whole game, lost the Camp Point Central Panthers 40-32 in the final week of the regular season. Carrollton displayed a never-say-die approach after getting down by three scores early in each half but managed to mount a couple of touchdowns to get back into the game, yet the mistakes they made on special teams, offense and defense cost them.

“We beat ourselves two weeks ago against them. The stuff that we did we can’t have in the playoffs,” quarterback Hunter Flowers said. “If we don’t mess up on special teams and I don’t throw two picks the game easily could’ve been the other way around. That’s what I’m excited to see on Saturday because I know we’re not going to make those mental mistakes anymore.”

The junior quarterback threw two touchdown pass along with two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown that gave Central a 34-12 lead in the third quarter. Flowers ended the game completing 22-of-33 passes with 295 passing yards, 84 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. Overall the Hawks put up over 400 yards against Central.

Flowers rebounded last week recording five total touchdowns (two passing and three rushing), gained 350 yards (289 passing and 61 rushing) and threw no interceptions. He’s now registered 3,018 total yards this season.

The Hawks come into this week averaging 36 points per game and since week three they’ve scored at least 30 points in every game.

Flowers has thrown for 2,520 yards with 28 touchdowns, ten interceptions and completed 60 percent of his passes.

Coming into week eight, all-state receiver Nathan Walker had caught 30 passes for 496 yards. Since then he’s hauled in 21 catches with 364 yards while receiving at least 100 yards and a touchdown in each game. Overall he’s obtained 860 yards with 14 touchdowns and 51 receptions.

Zach Flowers and Garrett Settles each has four touchdown catches. Settles has 26 receptions with 409 yards and Flowers has caught 44 catches with 569 yards.

“Defensively they always have a good game plan for us and sometimes it takes us a series or two to get things going,” Nick Flowers said. “I think Camp Point will use a similar approach, but they’re going to be keyed up and rally to the ball carrier fast as soon as they see those screens. We’re going to have to fake some screens and throw the ball downfield as well.”

The Hawks have gotten some boosts on offense in the last two weeks.

Ethan Brannan, who’s sat out most of the season because of an injury has played two full games. Against Central, he caught five passes for 63 yards and scored on a 12-yard rushing touchdown. Last week, Byron Holmes grabbed and ran for a 67-yard touchdown reception off a screen pass and collected a staggering 26 tackles on defense. The senior running back/linebacker has been nursing a high ankle sprain all season long, but Flowers is confident Holmes will be an impact player on Saturday despite not being entirely fit.

“[Byron’s] is due for an even bigger game than what he had at Sesser and boy this would be a good one for him to have it for sure. I’m not going to say he’s 100 percent, but he’s looking good this week,” Nick Flowers said.

“It’s kind of surprising how much energy we have, and it’s week two of the playoffs,” Hunter Flowers said. “The scout team has been helping us out a lot. They’ve been giving us a really good look.”

Central will line up in the wing-t formation that has produced 347 yards and 40 points per game.

Cole Williams and Chayse Houston each have tallied over 1,000 total yards this season. Williams, a 2017 Class 1A all-state selection has rushed for 894 yards with 93 carries, 14 touchdowns, and averages 9.6 yards per carry. He rushed for 93 yards on nine carries with three touchdowns (one rushing and two receiving).

Houston has found the end zone ten times with 636 yards on 72 carries. Fullback, Noah Strohkirch has 83 carries with 476 yards and six touchdowns. Against Carrollton, he caught three passes for 122 yards with two touchdowns.

Quarterback Eric Jones is 41-for-72 through the air with 898 yards, 13 touchdowns, and two interceptions. In week nine he played the best game of his career. Jones threw for 179 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions and attempted a career-high 12 passes.

In 2017, the Hawks and Panthers played in week nine and saw each other again in the second round. Central denied Carrollton an undefeated season winning in a 34-27 behind a home crowd for their senior night. Two weeks later the Hawks ended the Panthers season with a 20-18 victory by stopping a game-tying two-point conversion in the final minute of the game.

This year the tables have turned regarding expectations. Central is favored on paper to win and quite possibly make a run to the state championship while Carrollton has no pressure at this point.

“Last year we were in their shoes. We were up in the seeds, and they had nothing to lose,” Hunter Flowers said. “This year they’re ranked No. 2, and we have nothing to lose. I think that’s going to help us a lot because we’re going to leave it all out on the field like we should be doing.”

Other than 2015, these two programs have met up in every season since 2012. With Central winning two weeks ago, that ties the all-time series record at 4-4.

It’s easy to find reasons to dislike another community when it comes to playing in premier games year in and year out against them. However, both Carrollton and Central hold each other in high regards and respect.

“It’s going to be a respectful football game. Unfortunately, one team’s going to win, and one’s not going to,” Nick Flowers said. “There’s not going to be any negativity as far as one team trying to do something to the other team. It’s going to be about the game of football. Too many times when teams meet up there are distractions. It’s not that way when we play Camp Point. It’s about one program respecting the other program.”

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