SENECA EAST 34, CAREY 31
By Kyle Holsinger
CAREY — With a fourth-and-three situation at their opponent’s 31-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Seneca East was trailing Carey by four points. That’s when junior QB Nicholas Parks threw a deep pass to the right of the end zone to senior Taylor Young for a TD pass to go ahead against the Blue Devils with 1:34 left in the game.
Carey couldn’t muster a comeback, and the final score was 34-31 in favor of the Tigers.
“We believe in our quarterback and we believe in our receivers,” Seneca East coach Ed Phillips said. “When it means the most, they make the plays. I told them before the game ‘when it matters most, you’d better be at your very best’. Boy, were they tonight or what?”
The Tigers opened the game with a 13-play, 71-yard touchdown drive despite Seneca East racking up 35 penalty yards during it.
Parks found Aydan Zack over the middle, and Zack ran to the right sideline on his way to the Carey 16 for a 31-yard reception to help move the chains on the drive. Parks hit Bryler Beamer on a swing pass to the right for the 8-yard score. After the PAT, Seneca East was up 7-0 at the 7:42 mark of the first quarter.
Carey bounced back with a 13-play scoring drive of their own, going 65 yards over 6:26. Senior RB Brandon Tanner took a pitch to the left for a 25-yard run to get the Blue Devils into the red zone. Four plays later, junior Eli Steen bulled in for the touchdown from a yard out.
The Tigers were able to get back into Carey territory on a Parks pass to Beamer over the middle for a 24-yard catch. The drive was cut short when Parks fumbled when hit while scrambling from pressure. The ball was recovered by Carey LB Dash Puckett at Blue Devil 38.
Steen steamed ahead for a 17-yard pickup to get the ball back into Tiger territory. Three plays later, Steen rushed around the right end and beat the Tiger defenders to the corner as he took it to the house for the 39-yard rushing TD. Carey was up, 14-7, with 9:43 remaining in the first half.
Seneca East’s Young returned the following kickoff 43-yards to the Tiger 42 to give his team great field position. The Tigers took advantage of it and went down the field over the next dozen plays, scoring on a third-and-goal, when Parks kept it on a QB draw from two yards out. Parks found Young on a fourth-and-ten for a 12-yard reception to get Seneca East inside the Carey 10. The score was tied at 14 with 6:09 in the second quarter.
On the second play of Carey’s next possession, Kyler Boes threw a short pass to Mace Puckett. Puckett put together some moves on defenders to evade them and turn the play into a 33-yard pass. Three plays later, Boes ran in a 9-yard TD on an option keeper to the left. Carey was back up, 21-14, with 3:42 in the half.
On the next play from scrimmage, Seneca East’s Parks threw a bomb to Young who ran under it and caught up to the ball for a 64-yard scoring strike to even things back up at 21-all with just 16 seconds off of the clock.
Carey ran off the remainder of the time in the first half as they ran 17 plays on a 51-yard touchdown drive. Blue Devil kicker Nathan Gery drained a 28-yard field goal as time expired to put the Blue Devils up at the half, 24-21.
The Tigers' Parks was 11-of-17 for 212 passings yards and 2 TDs while also having 38 yards rushing at the break. Carey's Eli Steen had rushed for 108 yards on 13 carries.
Carey opened the second half with an impressive 16-play, 74-yard drive that lasted 7:59. The Blue Devils steadily moved the chain as they picked up four first downs on their way to the end zone. With 4:01 to go in the third quarter, Carey was up by a score of 31-21.
Seneca East drove down on their next drive to Carey’s 9-yard line before turning the ball over on downs to Carey.
The Blue Devils drove 80 yards from there, mostly on a 78-yard sprint by Dash Puckett. Carey failed to come away with points when Gery’s 37-yard field goal attempt went wide left with 8:50 remaining in the game.
The Tigers showed remarkable resilience at this juncture in the game, picking up four first downs on there way down to the Blue Devil 26.
Parks found Jackson Gayheart wide open over the middle for a 26-yard TD catch. Carey’s Tripp Phoenix blocked the PAT, keeping the Blue Devils lead at four, 31-27, with 4:40 left in the game.
On a third-and-seven from the 50-yard line, Carey fumbled the ball on a handoff and the Tigers recovered at midfield with 3:10 to go in the game and a chance to take the lead.
On a third-and-18 at Carey’s 46, Parks was able find Young for a 15-yard gain. That’s when Parks found Young for the go-ahead score.
It had been 2,178 days since the Tigers last beat the Blue Devils on Oct. 5, 2018. Seneca East won at Carey then also, 34-27. The loss for the Blue Devils also snapped their 27-game Northern 10 Conference winning streak.
"I have so much respect for their program," Coach Phillips said about Carey. "I thought we could win it, and I told the kids I believed we could. So to come up and do that against them. It's a special night."
Seneca East had 422 total yards with 349 through the air and 73 on the ground.
Parks was phenomenal, completing 20-of-36 passes for 349 yards and four TDs while also rushing for 70 yards and a score. Young caught eight passes for 163 yards and 2 TDs. Beamer had seven catches for 88 yards, and Zack had four catches for 72 yards.
Carey gained 404 yards as they rushed for 356 yards and passed for 48 yards.
Steen rushed for 148 yards on 22 carries, and Tanner had 74 yards on 12 attempts.
Seneca East (2-0 Northern 10, 3-2 overall) hosts Upper Sandusky (1-1, 2-3) and Carey (1-1, 1-4) plays at Wynford (0-2, 1-4) next Friday.
SENECA EAST 7 14 0 13 - 34
CAREY 7 17 7 0 - 31
Huron 38, Tiffin Columbian 20
Huron was down 14-3 at the halftime break before dominating in the second half. Huron's Landon Hohler had over 100 yards rushing and four TDs in the second half alone.
Gibsonburg 10, Calvert 0
Grant Smith scored on a 16-yard rush in the first half, Spencer Waugaman hit a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Aidan Morant intercepted a Calvert pass in the end zone to seal the victory for the Golden Bears.
Hopewell-Loudon 30, Lakota 0
The Chieftains stay perfect on the season. All of the scoring was in the first half as the Chieftains rolled the Raiders early in this Sandusky Bay Conference - River Division matchup.
Mohawk 63, Bucyrus 0
The Warriors were up by 49 at halftime. Quarterback Ben Boger threw three TD passes and rushed for a fourth. Sophomore Kaden Bish had two rushing TDs and a receiving TD, and classmate Andon Clouse had a 27-yard TD reception and a 12-yard TD rush.
