CARMEL, IN. — Normally teams schedule a cupcake for Homecoming but the Carmel Greyhounds decided to step their game up and tap the defending Class 6A State Champs on the shoulder Friday night. I guess they figured “if we’re going to compete for state title this year let’s holler at the latest cats to win one on our biggest night.” Well playas…they hollered and held it down like some straight up G’s! When the smoke cleared the No.4 Greyhounds were walking out of the joint with a 21-7 victory over No.10 Ben Davis.
The score wasn’t indicative of the battle that took place out there. Both defenses got after it as there was limited running room for either set of backs. Carmel drew blood first when Christian Williams scored on a 3 yard touchdown run with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter as Carmel ended the quarter on top 7-0.
Ben Davis stayed focused and kept chipping away at the Carmel defense until quarterback Trent Gipson popped one for 41 yards to knot it up at 7. They were able to go into the half all bottled up 7 apiece.
What impressed me most about Ben Davis in the first half was the fact that they played 24 minutes of football without committing a single penalty and they won the turnover battle picking off one of Tyler Trent’s passes just before the break.
However, the Greyhounds defense had been a monster all evening. They sacked BD’s Trent Gipson so many times I stopped counting. Ole Trent will probably feel all of those hits in the morning but in the mean time he kept on competing.
With 1:42 left in the third quarter Carmel’s Nate Frey blocks a Ben Davis punt and Josh Schuman swoops it up and carries it into the end zone to make it 14-7 Hounds. The place goes crazy and that’s when the wheels came off for the Giants.
Shortly there after Carmel punches it in again off of a Zach White 4 yard run to make 21-7 with 11:26 left to play. The Greyhounds score two touchdowns in less than 2 minutes to literally put the game out of reach because neither defenses were giving up the goods all night.
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! I learned a lot about Carmel on Friday night. They’ve got a helluva defense that doesn’t mind getting dirty and sticking their nose in your business. They were probably the most aggressive group I’ve seen all season. Oh yeah playa, they’ll be a tough out come playoff time.
Ben Davis on the other side showed me a lot too. They played a very disciplined ball game with very few penalties. They just had trouble protecting Trent Gipson but that had more to do with Carmel than Ben Davis. The Greyhounds did an excellent job of containing Delbert Mimms all night. THAT…was the most impressive thing I witnessed.
Mark you calendars folks!! Carmel and Warren Central will me playing for the Class 6A State Title game on Thanksgiving weekend. Why? Because Carmel’s defense is just that good. Stop me when I start lyin’!