Manogue shuts out Carson

Coming off a 21-0 shutout of Northern 4A Region champion Hug last week, the Bishop Manogue Miners carried with them a reputation for suffocating defense.

Against the Carson Senators Friday night, the Miners did nothing to alter that perception, jumping on top of the Senators early and holding on for a 26-0 non-league victory at Carson High School.

The Senators managed only 185 total yards against the Miners, now 3-0, while giving up a season-high 292 yards.

"If we would've shown up in the first half, it would've been a pretty good game," said Carson coach Shane Quilling, whose Senators fell to 1-2 on the season. "We knew they were big and physical up front. They were better than us up front offensively and defensively. Their defensive ends and outside linebackers did a hell of a job."

And the Miners' special teams weren't bad either.

After the Manogue defense held the Senators to a three-and-out inside their own 10-yard line, the Miners' Kevin Mortlock stormed through the Carson line and blocked Stephen Sawyers' punt and fell on it in the end zone.

Although Craig Batory missed the extra point, the Miners held a 6-0 lead only 1 minute, 6 seconds into the game.

Things got worse for the Senators on the ensuing kick return when running back/linebacker Kyle Banko suffered a knee injury while trying to block for Will Holbert.

Banko was unable to leave the game under his own power, and was dragging his left leg as two teammates helped him off the field. Banko used crutches to return to the bench in the second half, but was in street clothes, wearing a brace.

"That was a big loss," said Quilling, who thought that Banko had suffered an injury to either his ACL or MCL. "That was huge. It doesn't look good, but we'll see. That was a good football team. We can be if we don't make mistakes against good teams." Which is exactly what Carson did two possessions later.

After once again being held to a three-and-out, Carson returned the favor. But on its second play from scrimmage, Senators running back Travis Lamborn fumbled the ball on the Carson 30.

Seven plays later, running back Joshua Dupree ran in the first of his two touchdowns, this one from the 6. Carson stuffed the Miners' 2-point conversion, but Manogue still held a 12-0 lead at the 4:29 of the first quarter.

Dupree finished with 116 yards on 15 carries.

"We had to show up and play the first 5 minutes of the game," Quilling said. "We couldn't block five people on the punt. We fumble and we're down 12-0 (less than 8 minutes) into the game.

"We still had opportunities to score in the first half, but we found a way not to get it back."

Dupree coughed up the ball on Carson's 34 to end the first quarter. With a third-and-5 from its own 49, Carson quarterback Mitch Hammond found Lamborn for a 25-yard play to Manogue's 26.

But two plays later, Lamborn fumbled on a direct snap.

Lamborn finished with 69 yards on eight attempts and also caught one pass for 25 yards.

Carson had another opportunity just before the first half ended, but Hammond overthrew an open Richie Norgrove in the end zone.

Hammond was 3-of-15 for 60 yards passing and was held to 8 yards on 14 carries.

"You can't say we didn't have opportunities to score," Quilling said. "No excuses. We had our chances. We came back and did a lot of good things. The kids never quit. Robbie Bozin came in for Banko and had four or five big plays (including a second-quarter sack of Manogue quarterback Ray Barrett). Holbert, (Matt Rutledge) and (Wes) Reddick played for Banko. They'll see some reps this week."

Manogue running back Andrew Sharkey picked up 88 yards on eight carries, including a 42-yard touchdown run at 10:54 of the third quarter for the 19-0 lead. Dupree added a 9-yarder with 5:47 to go in the game for the final margin.

Carson will face arch-rival Douglas at Manogue High School on Saturday. The Tigers' field is still being upgraded.

"We're going to have a good week of practice and get ready for Douglas," Quilling said. "A bunch of our guys haven't played a lot. They're going to have to get after Douglas on Saturday.

"All of our games have been non-league games. We play them to get ready for league. With Douglas, we don't have to get on them to get them fired up for that one. We have to come out and execute. We will be ready to play. That's the bottom line."