HOPEWELL-LOUDON 27, CAREY 22

By Kyle Holsinger

CAREY — Hopewell-Loudon survived a scare from the Blue Devils last night.

Chieftain sophomore quarterback Jacoby Ellis threw a pass over the middle to Braylon Martinez for a 14-yard score with 17 seconds to go in the contest to secure a 27-22 victory over Carey at C.D. Wentling Field last night.

“It was just a quarterback who trusted his receiver,” Hopewell-Loudon coach Brian Colatruglio said. “We just told him (Ellis) ‘look, he’s going to be open right on the hash. Just come off the back foot and just drive it in there’; and boy, did he? And Braylon made a hell of a play for a touchdown.”

The win marks the second year in a row that the Chieftains bested the Blue Devils.

Carey got the scoring started on the opening drive of the game when running back Eli Steen blasted through the line for a one-yard score at the 8:21 mark in the first quarter. The Blue Devils moved the ball down the field thanks to a 41-yard pass from junior QB Kyler Boes to sophomore Tripp Phoenix on the second play of the game to get Carey inside H-L territory to the 23-yard line.

Later in the first, Boes threw a pass out of the backfield to Steen. The junior RB turned and was hit, jarring the ball loose only to be picked up by Hopewell-Loudon (1-0) at the Carey 41.

Three plays later, the Chieftain’s Ellis hit receiver Jack Colatruglio for a 32-yard gain to get down to the Blue Devil 16.

An 11-yard run by sophomore Kellen Frankart, who also took snaps for H-L, got the Chieftains down to the five-yard line before the time ran out in the quarter. On the first play of the second quarter, Martinez kept it while in wildcat formation for a six-yard score. The PAT was good by Martinez as well to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:56 left in the first half.

Carey (0-1) then had a 14-play, 40-yard drive that lasted 7:48 before turning the ball over on downs at the Chieftain 20. After getting the ball back from Hopewell, Carey’s Boes threw a deep pass down the left side of the field only to be intercepted by Colatruglio.

The very next play, Hopewell’s Frankart threw a screen to Martinez, who raced to the right side of the field before being tackled for a 52-yard reception. Ellis went under center for the next play and threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Matthew Wyman. The Chieftains maintained their lead for the rest of the quarter and were ahead 14-7 at the halftime break.

The second half opened with the Scarlet & Gray driving 41 yards down to their opponent’s 20-yard line, but that drive came up short when Carey’s Phoenix intercepted Ellis in the end zone for a touchback.

Three plays into the Blue Devil’s next drive, Boes was picked off by senior linebacker Thomas Daniel, who was tackled at the Carey 25.

The Chieftains got as close as the 11-yard line before turning the ball over on downs as the Blue Devil defense was able to bend and not break on the drive.

The momentum seemed to shift to Carey at this point in the game as the Devils went on a 15-play, 90-yard drive that ate up 7:12 of time in the second half. Phoenix took a pitch left and dashed 26-yards to get the Navy & White in Hopewell territory.

Senior Brandon Tanner took an option pitch to the left for 11 yards, and Boes passed to the right to sophomore Mace Puckett for a 12-yard reception to get down to their opponent’s 13-yard line. On the next play, Boes pitched left to Phoenix who raced down the sideline for a score. The game was tied at 14-all with 9:21 remaining in the game. 

That’s when the senior Martinez stepped up for Hopewell by returning Nathan Gery’s kickoff 82-yards down to the Carey six-yard line. A keeper by Frankfurt on the next play resulted in a Chieftain touchdown. Hopewell-Loudon had the momentum again and was up by seven again with only 15 seconds taken off of the clock.

Coach Colatruglio on Martinez’s return: “Every time where it looked like they really had us on the ropes. We answered, and that was a huge answer."

Carey’s Steen ran up the middle and broke through the defense for a 30-yard trek to the Hopewell 30. Another 10-yard run by Steen on the following play, and the Devils were in the red zone; driving towards a tying score. Four plays later, Puckett ran up the middle for a three-yard score.

The Devils decided to attempt a two-point conversion, and Eli Steen powered through on a middle run to convert the attempt; putting Carey up by a point, 22-21, with 5:57 to go in the game.

After trading punts, Hopewell-Loudon was able to get the ball back with 2:59 left in the contest. The Chieftains pulled off a remarkable 12-play, 79-yard come-from-behind drive ending with Ellis’ go-ahead touchdown pass to Martinez with 17 seconds left.

Carey was unable to get down the field with the little time left, giving Hopewell the hard-fought win.

“It’s just everything you ever talked to your kids about through the season and through the off-season. About never giving up,” Colatruglio said. “Just play every single play as hard as you can. Do your job each play, and at the end, we’ll figure out what happens, and man, we did that tonight.”

Carey coach Jonathon Mershman was feeling the polar opposite.

“We talked about it during two-a-days. There’s two things that steal victories: special teams and turnovers,” Mershman said. “We lost the turnover battle, and then we let up a kickoff return for nearly a touchdown. So, special teams and turnovers. That’s kind of what happened there.”

Hopewell’s Ellis was 16-of-22 throwing the ball with 210 yards passing, two TDs, and an interception. Martinez had seven receptions for 115 yards, 12 rushing yards, and two total TDs to go along with his big kickoff return.

Carey’s Kyler Boes completed 4-of-13 passes for 54 yards and two INTs. Steen led the way for the Devil’s ground game with 26 carries for 138 yards and two TDs. 

The Chieftains threw for 249 yards and rushed 27 times for 288 total yards. The Blue Devils threw for 54 yards through the air with 230 on the ground for a total of 284 yards.

Carey hosts Galion (1-0) and Hopewell-Loudon will head to Marion Pleasant (1-0) next Friday.