Carmel pounds Hamilton Southeastern 40-7
By RYAN NAYLOR
ISL Correspondent
FISHERS, Ind. — The Carmel Greyhounds didn’t produce a sustained drive in the first half of Friday night’s sectional opener.
They didn’t need to.
Hamilton Southeastern committed five first-half turnovers as the Class 6A No. 6 Greyhounds pummeled the 10th-ranked Royals 40-7.
“Tonight, we came out, and our defense put the offense in some really good positions,” Carmel coach Kevin Wright said. “I thought we played really well in all three phases.”
Wright’s team has regained its focus since blowing a 24-point lead and losing at Ben Davis last Friday in a game that cost the Greyhounds a share of the MIC title.
Still, defeating Hamilton Southeastern was simply a requirement to remain in contention to reach its goals.
“It’s a four-week season to get to the state championship game,” Wright said. “This is the first step.”
The Greyhounds advanced to host No. 5 Fishers in the sectional finals next Friday. (Links to sectional brackets, will open in new window: 6A 5A 4A 3A 2A A)
Hamilton Southeastern junior quarterback Tyler Janney had a rocky start — his first two passes were intercepted. Carmel headed to the locker room at the half having scored all 24 of its points off HSE turnovers.
After turning the ball over on downs to start the third quarter, the Greyhounds defense brought Janney down in the end zone for a safety to take a 26-0 lead.
Carmel followed with a 19-yard touchdown run from sophomore tailback Tobias Watkins to stretch the lead to 33-0.
The Greyhounds went deep into their roster as the starters watched the final minutes from the sidelines. With 11:03 remaining in the contest, Josh Ebikwo found the endzone with an 8-yard run as Carmel increased their its lead to 40-0
With only 43.8 seconds remaining, Hamilton Southeastern’s Aaron Matio ended Carmel’s shutout bid with a 9-yard touchdown run.
Quarterback Isaac James gained 99 of the Greyhounds’ 267 rushing yards. Carmel was 4 of 7 passing for only 34 yards.
On a night in which everything seemed to bounce Carmel’s way, the Greyhounds fumbled the ball three times, but recovered all three.
The Royals rushed for 141 yards, but half of those yards were amassed during a second quarter drive that ended in a HSE fumble. Janney was the leading rusher with 48 yards on 12 attempts. He also completed 5 of 11 passes for 41 yards.
