RENO - On a clear night at Damonte Ranch High School and with their playoff hopes possibly on the line, the Carson Senators brought a whole lot of thunder and even more lightning.
Taking advantage of two first-quarter turnovers by the Damonte Ranch Mustangs, the Senators struck quickly and went on to a 28-7 win Friday night.
In its first-ever varsity meeting with the Mustangs, Carson improved to 1-2 in the Sierra League and 2-4 overall. Damonte Ranch fell to 1-2 in league and 1-4 overall.
"All week we were talking about running the ball 85-90 percent of the time - and we did," said Carson coach Shane Quilling, whose team ran for 235 yards on 24 carries. "And we had a pretty damn good quarterback making good decisions."
That quarterback would be junior Mitch Hammond, who picked up 138 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and was 5-of-6 for 45 yards through the air.
After Frank Urbani's fumble recovery ended Damonte Ranch's first drive, Hammond capped off a five-play, 58-yard drive with a 25-yard keeper to the left to put Carson up 7-0 only 3 minutes, 25 seconds into the game.
The Mustangs tried to come back and had a nine-play drive going on the ensuing possession, but cornerback Richie Norgrove picked off Damonte quarterback Brock Frank.
Eight plays later, Senators running back Travis Lamborn busted one 23 yards up the middle and Carson had a 14-0 lead with 45 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Lamborn, who was suffering from a bruised spine and hip incurred during last week's loss to Hug, had a stellar night on both sides of the ball, rushing for 66 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and recording one sack, an interception and putting a licking on Frank.
"Coach didn't want me to practice until Thursday, but I came back on Wednesday," said Lamborn, whose 5-yard score gave Carson a 28-0 lead at 9:03 of the fourth quarter. "I thought tonight the team was pretty confident, pretty focused. On the bus and in the locker room, they had 'the stare,' focus. Their eyes were lasers."
Quilling credited his offensive line - Jaime Greene, Trent Simpson, Garret Truesdale, Mitch Brantingham, Caleb Gradert - and tight end Johnny Hazeltine for opening up the door for Carson's punishing running attack.
"Damonte lined up exactly - exactly - how we thought they would," Quilling said. "We opened it up on the ground, running the ball and burned up the clock. We only had to throw six times. And every kid got to play."
While everyone got in on the action, the night's prettiest play belonged to Hammond, who broke through the middle on his own 29 and tore 51 yards downfield before being brought down by a Mustangs defender who facemasked him.
"He was looking back when he got facemasked," said Lamborn, who would later score in the series. "He would have made it otherwise. He had only 10 yards to go."
Hammond took it 20 yards to the house after a play-fake to give the Senators a 21-0 lead with 7 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Mustangs avoided a shutout when Frank took it in from 15 yards out with 1:49 to go in the game.
"It was a pretty big win," Lamborn said. "If we lost, we probably would have been out of the playoffs. We're not going to look past North Valleys (on Friday at Carson High School). They're a good team. But it's a winnable game if we played like we did tonight."
They say on a clear night you can see forever. All the Senators care about is looking as far ahead as Friday when they host the up and coming Panthers and hope they can keep their playoff dream alive for one more week.