CARROLLTON - It rained and rained before Saturday’s IHSA Class 1A playoff game between Carrollton and Red Hill and as soon as the teams took the field, it turned to mud.
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This was a bad sign for the Carrollton Hawks, who run the spread offense with a smile on their faces. It turns out it was a blessing in disguise because the Red Hill Salukis had just as bad a time with the terrain as the Hawks.
Carrollton though, adjusted well and defeated Red Hill 40-20 and advanced to the second round of the IHSA Class 1A Playoffs in Carrollton on Saturday.
“I think what it did today was just neutralize things,” Carrollton head coach Nick Flowers said of the wet and muddy playing conditions.
“We thought with our spread offense and the schemes we have it definitely makes it tough,” Flowers said. “They wanted to get Murray to the perimeter and it made it awfully tough on them.”
Dalton Murray was the danger man for Red Hill. The 5-9 Saluki quarterback was reportedly ranked sixth in the state in rushing yards and was always a potent threat whenever he had the ball in his hands. As the game concluded he ran the ball 10 times and gained -1 yard. As a team the Salukis rushed for 117 yards on 29 carries.
"Nobody had contained Murray all year long, even in their losses he still was an animal out there,” Flowers said. We were on a mission to contain this quarterback and that was the difference in the ball game.”
Carrollton’s offense battled adversity early on as Wade Prough threw an interception on the first two series, but he and the Hawks recovered soon after.
“I really think our playoff experience paid off today,” Flowers said. We didn’t get rattled, we were composed, and we took what they were giving us because they flat out brought it.”
Prough threw two touchdowns and two interceptions for 147 yards.
On Carrollton’s third offensive series, Flowers inserted Cole Brannan as quarterback in a wildcat setup. Brannan is no stranger to being under center as he has played the position at various times throughout his career, none more so like today.
He through only two passes for 20 yards and threw a touchdown pass, but most of his damage was on the ground. Brannan finished with 17 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown. Jerrett Smith had just 10 yards on 17 carries, but he saved his ammunition for the air. He had 100 yards receiving on three catches.
Defensively the Hawks were all over the place. Carrollton recovered two fumbles, had four sacks and picked off Murray two times.
“It wasn’t ideal conditions but honestly it was pretty fun. We hadn’t played in muddy conditions all year,” Carrollton linebacker Brody Howard said.
One Hawk that opened holes for Brannan and Jerrett Smith on the offensive line was Matthew Campbell, but on the other side of the ball he had a big day by recording several tackles and getting an interception.
"It was hard. Every time you even tried to push them you’d slide back 10 feet, but we got it done. It feels wonderful and I’m glad to do it for the seniors,” Campbell said.
Carrollton got on the board first with 4:53 to go in the first half when Brannan hit Howard in stride for an 11-yard passing touchdown to put the Hawks up 6-0. A couple plays later, Murray dropped back to pass, was sacked on his blindside and fumbled the ball.
Smith scooped it up and ran for the end zone before Garrett Harper dragged him down, but Smith pulled a Reggie Bush and tossed the ball to Campbell, which was the first time he had ever carried the football in a live play. The run back set up the Hawks at the Red Hill 2-yard line and then scored on a hook and lateral from Prough to Brannan to Smith from 9 yards out. Brannan looked to be tackled, but pitched the football to Smith just in time on the play.
For most of the first half, yards and first downs were hard to come by and Red Hill had only one first down at halftime. Things went from bad to worse for the Salukis soon after. On a 2nd and 13 from the Red Hill 20, Murray dropped pack to pass, threw to his right and was picked off by Carrollton’s Logan Duba. He raced into the end zone for a 17-yard pick-six and the Hawks were up 20-0 early in the third quarter.
Red Hill would answer and put together their first good drive of the game. A 13-yard touchdown pass from Murray to Dylan Pentell brought the score to 20-6. The Salukis would get a stop and get the ball back later in the quarter, but a fumble would kill the momentum as Alex Bowker recovered the football at Red Hill’s 42-yard line. A couple plays later Prough hooked up with Howard on a 32-yard connection to red zone, which set up a 1-yard rushing touchdown, on fourth down by Smith to make it 26-6 with 9:24 left in the game.
On the ensuing first play of Red Hill possession, Harper ran 67 yards to the house to make it 26-14 with 9:03 left. However, less then a minute and a half later, Brannan called his own number at quarterback and scored on a 49-yard touchdown run to put the Hawks back up by 20 at 34-14. Following Campbell’s interception, Prough hooked up with Smith for a 71-yard touchdown connection to put the icing on the cake. A late glitch for the Hawks occurred when a fumbled snap was scooped and scored by Vinsel Cameron of Red Hill.
The Hawks will host the Pawnee Indians, who defeated Decatur Lutheran 42-8 today in Pawnee. The winner will play number one Tuscola or No. 9 LeRoy.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
