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Mikes close season with 26-0 victory

By Bob Fox, For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read
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Carmichaels’ Bailey Jones grips the ball with both hands as he fights through a tackle to score a touchdown against Brownsville at Redstone Field on Oct. 25, 2019. (Photo by Darnell Graham)

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Carmichaels’ Kevin Kelly runs untouched through the Brownsville defense for a touchdown during Friday’s Century Conference game at Redstone Field. (Photo by Darnell Graham)

REPUBLIC — Last Friday night’s Century Conference game between Carmichaels and Brownsville didn’t carry much weight in terms of next week’s playoffs with both teams staying home when the postseason gets underway.

However, Carmichaels’ 26-0 win means a lot more than its impact on the two programs’ respective win/loss record.

“It was a pleasure to coach the seniors this season,” said Brownsville head coach Scott Fichter. “They are some good kids. As far as the kids coming back … they are hard workers and I think they’ll have much success.”

After giving his final post-game talk of the season to an excited Carmichaels squad, head coach Ryan Krull was near the point of tears when talking about how his team has responded to the challenges of moving up from Class A to AA over the past two seasons.

“I’m sad. I’m really sad to see these seniors go,” Krull said. “We found out so much about our kids. Amidst all these challenges, they showed up for two years and not one kid complained about it and it was never talked about that we were the smallest team in 2-A. They came out and practiced their butts off with the abilities they had and they just played. I know we aren’t the most talented team, but they just kept working and kept showing up. Words don’t do justice for how proud I am of them.”

What really showed up on Friday night was the Mikes’ running game, which produced 319 yards, 20 first downs and all four of the games’ touchdowns on 50 carries. Carmichaels averaged 6.4 yards per carry and possessed the ball for 28:40 of a possible 48 minutes.

The Mikes (3-4, 4-5) shook off an early interception and Bailey Jones’ two-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 69-yard drive for the eventual winning score late in the first quarter.

Carmichaels drove 71 yards in nine plays for a second-quarter touchdown, assisted by a pair of 15-yard Falcon penalties, with Jones running it in from nine yards out. Senior quarterback Kevin Kelly connected with Jones for the two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead.

The Mikes missed a field goal attempt late in the quarter.

The transition from the second quarter to the third brought more of the same on the cool late-October evening.

Carmichaels made it 20-0 with a 10-play, 65-yard drive that seemed to wear down the Falcons defense as Kelly turned a routine quarterback dive into an eight-yard touchdown with his offensive line driving the Falcon defense backwards into the end zone.

The Mikes needed just four plays to post their final touchdown of the season later in the third quarter. Kelly found the end zone for a second time, this time weaving through the Brownsville defense for a 25-yard scoring run.

The fourth quarter didn’t see any scoring, but did see the night end with both teams showing respect for each other in the form of handshakes and even a hug or two as the final seconds of their respective seasons faded away into the chilly autumn air. Kelly got the honor of capping his high school playing career with a pair of kneel downs to officially close the contest.

Kelly and Jones formed a consistent one-two rushing punch for Carmichaels, going for 168 and 119 yards, respectively. Kelly also completed 4-of-9 passes for 28 yards.

Brownsville was led by junior running back Daniel Grant, who ran for 95 yards on 20 carries. Junior Vandell Page added 39 yards on eight attempts, as the Falcons totaled 130 yards rushing on 31 touches. Sophomore quarterback Hunter Assad completed 4-of-12 passes for 34 yards.

After the game, Krull continued to make no bones about the amount of pride and admiration he had for the 2019 Mikes.

“Going into the Washington game, I really challenged our guys to show how tough they were. I know what the score was (45-0), but that’s really when we started a great end to our season,” Krull said. “We challenged them and we never looked back. This team here saved football at Carmichaels for at least the immediate future. To go through what our guys went through the last two years could have been a program killer in other places. Instead, they have things ready to go for next year.”

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