Carey Beats Seneca East 8-7 on Puckett Late TD and 2-Point Run
By Kyle Holsinger
CAREY — Seneca East was able to keep Carey off of the scoreboard for the first 47 minutes of Friday night’s game, but Carey’s Mace Puckett barreled through defenders on his way to a 10-yard touchdown run with 60 seconds left in the contest.
Coach Jonathan Mershman and the Blue Devils elected to go for two points on their point-after-try, seeing as the Devils were down 7-6, but a delay-of-game penalty moved Carey back five yards. Mershman then sent his kicking unit out to attempt the 25-yard try, but a Tiger was flagged for encroachment—moving the ball half the distance to the goal to the Seneca East four-yard line.
Coach Mershman put his offense back on the field to go for two from there, and the Devils’ Mace Puckett forced his way into the end zone for the two points and the lead.
“Mace, you know, he was like ‘just put it in my hands, I’ll find a way’” Mershman said. “Players wanna make plays.” Puckett finished the game with 142 yards and a TD on 25 rushes.
Carey’s defense forced a turnover-on-downs with 33 seconds remaining in the ballgame to secure the 8-7 Northern 10 Athletic Conference victory.
“That was an exciting, close, awesome game,” Mershman said. “It’s awesome because we were on the right side of it.” Mershman then said that both teams fought hard on both sides of the ball.
“They (Seneca East) held strong all but the one time we needed.”
“It’s one of the best high school football games I’ve ever been involved in. Two extremely good football teams just fighting their butts off.” Seneca East coach Ed Phillips said. “Its one of those games that people on the outside look at and say ‘it’s a shame someone had to lose’; and it’s a shame someone had to lose because, man, it had to be a great one to watch.”
Seneca East (5-2 overall, 3-2 N10) started the game by driving down the field with two 21-yard passes in a row from sophomore quarterback Branson Robinson to Jaron Depinet and Jackson Gayheart respectively. On second-and-7, Robinson was flagged for intentional grounding for a throw he made as several Blue Devils were bringing him down for a sack. A 17-yard Robinson pass over the middle to Depinet gave the Tigers a fourth-and-5 scenario. Robinson’s pass fell incomplete to turn the ball over on downs.
Carey’s opening possession started with a bang as well as QB Tripp Phoenix kept the ball for a 19-yard gain followed by another 19-yard run—this time by Puckett to get into Tiger territory. A 23-yard rush two plays later by Puckett put the Blue & White in the red zone. Seneca East’s defense bent but didn’t break as they were able to tackle Puckett short of a first down on fourth-and-5 to return the favor and force a turnover-on-downs.
The teams swapped punts into the second quarter when the Tigers got the ball back at midfield.
A keeper by Robinson on fourth-and-2 moved the chains, and kept the drive alive early. On third-and-6, the Orange & Black’s Robinson threw a screen pass to sophomore wideout Jarrett Bame for 11 yards to get into the red zone. Another screen pass on the following play from Robinson to Jackson Gayheart went for nine yards, and after an incomplete pass, Gayheart ran it again for seven yards to set up a first-and-goal from the Carey 3.
That’s when Jackson Gayheart punched it in for a touchdown. Seneca East sophomore Isaac Stockmaster drained the PAT to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 5:06 to go in the first half.
The Blue Devils drove but fumbled at midfield on their next drive, and a turnover-on-downs by the Tigers gave Carey the ball with four seconds remaining at the SE 47.
The Blue & White’s Phoenix bombed a deep ball to Puckett—who then mowed through various Tigers but was tackled a yard short from scoring for a 46-yard pitch-and-catch to end the first half.
Carey (5-2, 5-0) turned the ball over on downs at the Tiger 39, and the team traded punts until Carey’s Benson Kloepfer’s 45-yard punt was downed at the SE 1. The Devils forced a three-and-out from there, and Logan Summit returned the punt 12 yards to give Carey the ball at the SE 20 to start their next possession.
Unfortunately though, Carey’s Puckett was stopped short again on fourth down to turn the ball over to the Tigers.
The Blue Devils got the ball back with 8:21 left in the game, and moved into Seneca East territory thanks to Phoenix’s 8-yard completion to Kloepfer followed by a seven-yard keeper by Phoenix. On second-and-15 though, Phoenix threw a pass over the middle that was intercepted by sophomore defensive back Jamison Ruffing.
Carey’s defense forced a punt again, and the Devils had the ball at their own 47-yard line with 2:44 to go in the contest.
The Devils’ Phoenix kept it and spun inside for a 13-yard advance into enemy territory. Two plays later, Puckett went 15 yards as he ran through tacklers. Then, Puckett ran for 11 yards to get into the red zone. A couple plays after is when Puckett scored Carey’s lone touchdown and then converted the two-point attempt.
Carey rushed for 219 yards and passed for 76 yards for 295 total offensive yards.
Phoenix was 6-for-12 passing for 76 yards and an interception while also rushing for 35 yards on 13 carries. Kloepfer made two receptions for 16 yards.
Seneca East gained 106 yards through the air and eight yards on the ground for a total of 114 yards.
The Tigers' Robinson completed 12-of-30 passes for 106 yards. Jackson Gayheart caught three passes for 35 yards and rushed for 17 yards and a TD on seven touches. Colten Young made three receptions for 20 yards, and Depinet had 38 receiving yards on two catches.
The Blue Devils’ defense held the Tigers to only seven total yards in the second half.
“It was a tough fought game from the first snap,” Carey’s Puckett said. “They came out. They smacked us in the mouth. We really had to put everything together to get in that end zone that last play.”
HOPEWELL-LOUDON 42, CALVERT 0
Hopewell's Jacoby Ellis hit Chase Rogier on a bubble screen for a four-yard score, and Brody Brickman kept it from 13 yards out in the first quarter. Brody Brickman kept it again for a three-yard TD run, Ellis hit Reiyc Hoover in stride for a 39-yard TD, and Hoover kept it for a 16-yard score in the second quarter. Bryler Brickman kept it for a three-yard TD in the fourth.
TIFFIN COLUMBIAN 63, NORWALK 7
Columbian's Logan Gooding connected with Blake Miller on 26- and 5-yard TDs, DaZarias Russell returned a punt 68 yards to the house, and Masen Seitz scored on nine- and 19-yard runs all in the first quarter. Braden Egbert ran in a nine-yard TD, Andrew Newman had a two-yard TD run, and Russell then returned an interception 86 yards for the pick-six in the second quarter. Landon Richardson scored on a 36-yard rush in the third quarter. Norwalk's Lyric Shipp ran in a two-yard TD.
MOHAWK 44, WILLARD 0
Mohawk's Levi Tiell had nine catches for 153 yards and two TDs. The Warriors head to Colonel Crawford next weekend.
GIBSONBURG 28, LAKOTA 14
Gibsonburg's Keese Sanchez sprinted 59 yards for the TD in the first quarter, and Grant Smith scored with 21 seconds left in the first half to take a 14-6 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Xander Zimmerman returned a 41-yard pick-six. Smith punched it in from three-yards out in the final period.
