Greyhounds hang tough, fall to Louisville Trinity 42-35
By CRAIG DRAGASH
ISL Correspondent
CARMEL, Ind. — If you are searching for a couple of playmakers outside of the metro Indianapolis area, you might want to head about two hours south to Louisville and check out Trinity quarterback Reggie Bonnafon and running back Donald Brooks.
The tandem gave Carmel fits all evening, contributing to all of Trinity’s six touchdowns as the Irish defeated Carmel 42-35 in a game that was entertaining until the very end. Bonnafon, a Louisville commitment, finished the evening going 18 for 23 passing for 283 yards and two touchdowns and added 62 yards on 15 carries for an additional two scores.
Trinity lined up Brooks all over the field, using him in a variety of running and passing plays. His stats for the game were also impressive, rushing 21 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and hauling in three passes for 54 yards.
Carmel head coach Kevin Wright surprised many by starting junior Isaac James at quarterback in place of senior John Lampe. Lampe was ineffective at Indianapolis Tech last week in the Greyhounds’ 6-2 victory over the Titans. Lampe appeared to answer the wakeup call, entering the contest on Carmel’s fifth play from scrimmage, and wound up completing 13 of 18 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown for the game with no interceptions. James, more of an option running quarterback, did not attempt a pass, and only rushed for 7 yards on 4 attempts with a touchdown.
Carmel had the opening kickoff covered very well, tackling the Irish kick returner at his 10-yard line. The Greyhound defense then forced a three-and-out, and Carmel had the ball with great field position from the Trinity 30-yard line. On the Greyhounds’ third play from scrimmage, James broke a 40-yard run for a touchdown, only to be called back by a holding penalty. With Carmel facing a third-and-32, Lampe entered the game and promptly hit Jason Baldridge with a 48-yard pass to move the Greyhounds to the Trinity 4-yard line. But the Irish defense held strong, denying Carmel on fourth-and-goal from the 2 to take over on downs.
Trinity then went on their first of several impressive drives on the night, going 90 yards in 12 plays, capped off by a 21-yard touchdown pass from Bonnafon to Rodjay Burns to give the Irish a 7-0 lead.
After a touchback gave Carmel the ball at their 20, the Greyhounds mounted a drive of their own. Faced with a fourth-and-7 from the Trinity 27-yard line, Carmel again failed to convert, and the Irish this time went 73 yards in eight plays resulting in a one yard touchdown run by Brooks to increase their lead to 14-0.
Starting again from their 20 with 3:28 left in the half, Carmel yet again drove downfield, this time reaching the end zone as junior running back Chris Perkins scored on a seven yard run with 10.6 seconds left to cut the lead to 14-7 at halftime.
Carmel started the second half with possession at its 24-yard line, and Perkins scored again from five yards out to tie the game at 14 after a Lampe to Baldridge connection for 23 yards gave the Greyhounds first-and-goal at the 4.
Four of Trinity’s final five possessions resulted in touchdowns. The only exception was an interception by Carmel’s Jack Conway, who ran the ball back to the Trinity 4-yard line, where James scored two plays later to again tie the score at 21.
Leading 28-21, Trinity was faced with a fourth-and-7 from the Carmel 31-yard line. Bonnafon, as he seemed to do all night, was calm under pressure, avoiding a Greyhound rush and finding C.J. Ott in the end zone for a 31-yard scoring play to increase the Irish lead to 14.
Carmel answered right back as UCLA-bound Austin Roberts ran the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to cut the Trinity lead to 35-28. Carmel then attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered by the Irish, and they scored again on a 3-yard run by Bonnafon to increase the margin to 42-28 with 1:31 remaining.
But Lampe found Thomas Baldwin for a 24-yard scoring strike to cut the lead back to seven with 16.3 seconds left, and another onside kick would be coming. The Greyhounds recovered the kick, but the ball was awarded to Trinity after it was ruled that Carmel touched the ball illegally before the ball traveled 10 yards, and the Irish ran out the clock to claim a 42-35 victory.
While Trinity was very impressive, Carmel showed a lot of fight and made some big plays when they were needed. Trinity finished with 447 yards of total offense to Carmel’s 362. While the offense wasn’t as smooth with James in the game at quarterback, this wrinkle in the Greyhounds’ offense can certainly cause problems for future opponents because James is capable of breaking a big play at any time.
Both teams are now 1-1, and Carmel faces second-ranked Center Grove at home next Friday.
