The Carson Senators Tiny Mites Silver youth football team finished the season with a strong showing at home.
With a little help from the Senators Tiny Mite Blue players, the Silver team gave the South Tahoe Vikings all they could handle before falling 12-6 at Governor's Field on Friday.
In spite of a little scheduling confusion, the Silver team was able to enlist the services of Tiny Mite Blue players Colton Schafer, Adam Fenton, Connor McCleary, Sasha Keith-Handschuh, Gabriel Tatro, Braxton Carter, Kevin Tooke, Dean Poppenga III, Garrett Tibma, Paul Honein, Peter Honein and Brandon Mendoza.
Coach Todd Schafer combined the Blue players with Silver standouts Hayden Wheeler, Alex Robison, Justin Kattenhorn, Devin Pressley and A.C. Garcia to put a team on the field with two days of practice.
The game was a good defensive battle. The Viking defense pressured Senators' first time quarterback Schafer well and limited him to one touchdown on a keeper around the left side in the first half. The Senator defense also put up a good front and allowed only one touchdown on a sweep right in the first half.
The second half continued to be a defensive struggle. The Senators had the ball for most of the time but were unable to penetrate the Viking defense and score. The Vikings on the other hand were able to get their running back loose, once, and he was able to put the winning touchdown on the board.
Coach Schafer noted, "This group of kids were able to get together on two days practice, play positions they had not played much or at all during the season and be competitive. They concentrated, worked hard, and were able to play with kids they had not played with during the year. It was a pleasure to put the Carson kids together and see the kind of heart they all displayed."
MITEY MITE BLUES TIE
The Mitey Mite Blue Senators played rival Douglas Black on Thursday and battled to a 0-0 tie.
Both defenses owned the night as neither team really threatened to score. Carson's defense was led by Conner Larkin with 14 tackles, Nick Andreas, Luke Myers, Jarod Butler, Jordan Warren, Brandon Gagnon, Phillip Lopez, Gavin Bakkedahl, Cody Radtke, Brandon Basa, Derek Schafer, Nick Tibma, Daniel Morrison, Nick Allen, Adam Larkin and Tristan Martel.
Carson's defense held Douglas to two first downs with one coming on a face mask penalty. The Senator offense didn't fare much better but did manage to move the ball and record seven first downs on the stingy Tiger defense. Carson's offense was led by lineman Nick Tibma, Sam Wilson, Dawson Lamb, Tristan Martel, Wesley Morrison and Justin Lopez, who did give some running room to Larkin, Andreas, Gagnon, Schafer, Reed Lequerica, Landon Truesdale and Chase Campagni.
The Senators moved the ball on their last possession but ran out of time after reaching the Douglas 16-yard line.
Carson plays it last game at noon Saturday against the Sparks Saints in the Snow Bowl at the Golden Eagle Regional Sports Complex.
CHS FROSH 28, FALLON 21
Dylan Sawyers continued his huge season for the Carson High freshmen football team in a 28-21 win over Fallon on Wednesday.
Sawyers rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns as Carson (7-1, 6-0 in the Sierra League) rolled up 336 yards in total offense. Jordan Seimbida had 57 all-purpose yards and scored Carson's other touchdown.
Carson's offensive line led by Justin Stevens and Tyler Nolan again paved the way. On defense, Brock Pradere intercepted a pass and Clinton Page had an outstanding game.
CHS JVS 24, FALLON 7
Carson turned in an outstanding effort to lead CHS.
Trey Jensen and Colby Blueberg combined for two touchdown passes, one for 10 yards and another for 30 yards, to give Carson a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. Fallon returned the ensuing kickoff to Carson's 20-yard line and scored on a touchdown pass on the next play to make it 12-7. That was virtually all the offense Fallon had on the night.
In the fourth quarter, the CHS defense scored on a safety to make it 14-7.
Tyler Collins then scored on a 5-yard run and then ran it in for the two-point conversion to give Carson a 22-7 lead.
Carson scored another safety to make it 24-7 when it tackled Fallon's punter in the end zone after a bad snap.
Chris Foss, Zach Hudacko, Matt Cooper, Chris Steele, Mike Bolanos, Tyler Collins, A.J. Winder and Elan Flores all played well defensively for CHS.