Miracle football finish eludes Senators at Wooster

RENO - Reality almost strangled invention again for the Carson football team at Wooster's Sellers Field.

Two weeks after pulling off a dramatic comeback against Sparks in a 27-26 win, Carson looked to be on the verge of doing it again. The Senators almost pulled off the miracle finish before bowing Friday to Wooster, 14-6.

A few of Carson's fans had given up, deciding to beat the traffic back to Carson City by leaving early when the Senators were trailing 14-0. But most of the Carson faithful and the Senators still hadn't given up.

It was also an encouraging performance for Carson (3-2, 0-1). Even though it was just the conference opener, the game had the look of a hard hitting, low-scoring state playoff game between two solid teams.

"I'm just very proud of the kids and their effort," Carson Coach Bob Bateman said.

Justin Sarnowski hadn't given up even after he was denied a fumble recovery when it was ruled Wooster's Robby Stallings' forward progress was stopped late in the fourth quarter and the Colts protecting a 14-0 lead. On the next play, Wooster's Bobby Velasquez rambled for 14 yards, but Sarnowski came from behind, stripped the ball away and recovered the fumble.

Carson then caught lightning in a bottle, with Marques Giron completing a 67-yard touchdown pass to Douglas Brooks. A bad snap on the extra point attempt left the score at 14-6.

After the Senator defense stiffened, Sarnowski had a nice punt return to Wooster's 45-yard line. But Carson couldn't mount a threat, ending its chance for a comeback.

Stallings gave Wooster breathing room in the fourth quarter with a 41-yard touchdown run. Until that play, Carson had bottled up one of the area's more heralded running backs.

Stallings spent most of the day running into the likes of Jed Abowd, Dan Jones, Peter Elverum, Patrick Binder and Daniel Longhofer. Stallings finished with 76 yards on 20 carries. Among Jones' highlights was a caused fumble and a recovered fumble.

But Wooster was able to bottle up Carson's Joshua Carter, who finished with 25 yards on 12 carries.

"It could have gone either way," said Bateman about the game. "We told the kids, six plays makes the difference of the ball game. They capitalized on their six."

The Senators looked like they had something going on their first drive when Giron completed a 15-yard pass to Thomas Evans, but Carson could generate little offense until late in the first half.

That's when Robert Handley made a spectacular, sprawling catch of a Giron pass for 26 yards to the Carson 38. But Carson coughed the ball up on the next play and Wooster scored on a 19-yard pass from John James to Kyle Backlund to take a 7-0 lead.

Down 7-0 in the fourth quarter, Carson's defense rose to stuff Stallings short of the first down on fourth and a half yard at the Senator 16. Scott O'Brien came in to give Carson a spark with a 10-yard run on an option, giving the Senators the ball at their own 30.

But an interception stopped the drive. On the play, the Wooster defender appeared to hit Handley early, but no penalty was called and the interception was allowed to stand.

JUNIOR VARSITY

CARSON 35, WOOSTER 28

Behind their offensive line, Chris Kotter, Josh Ezekiel and Matthew Waterman dominated the fourth quarter with their running for Carson (3-2, 1-0).

In the fourth quarter, Kotter ran for a first down on fourth and six to set up a 33-yard touchdown pass from Frank Bluess to Shawn Heinz. Kotter ran it in for the two-point conversion to give Carson a 28-21 lead.

Allen Wooldridge then helped stop a potential game-tying drive with a tackle for a loss on Wooster's ensuing drive. Carson took over, with Ezekiel scoring on a 14-yard run. Thomas Tyree added the extra point to make it 35-21.

Waterman gained 135 yards on 12 carries, Cotter had 84 yards on 10 carries and Ezekiel rushed for 75 yards on 11 carries. Bluess had 144 yards of passing.

On defense, Jack Brooks had a huge game with 18 tackles, including 10 solo and a sack. Paul Carter had nine tackles, Andrew Candia had seven tackles and Dominick Schmitt had six tackles and an interception.