The Carson Mitey Mite Pop Warner football team won its opening playoff game on Friday, beating the Sparks Steelers 19-12.
Both defenses controlled the game in the first quarter but Carson broke through in the second quarter on a Brandon Gagnon 34-yard scoring run to go up 6-0. Carson's offense had to slug it out against a tough Steeler defense.
Carson's offensive line of Sam Wilson, Nick Tibma, Dawson Lamb, Wesley Strickler, Tristan Martel, Justin Lopez, Landon Truesdale and Chase Campagni again played well in opening holes for backs Derek Schafer, Nick Andreas, Conner Larkin, Reed Lequerica and Gagnon. Gagnon scored the second of his three touchdowns later in the second quarter on a 70 yard scamper.
Carson's defense had to deal with an outstanding quarterback who threw the ball well. The Steeler's scored on a 25-yard pass in the fourth quarter to narrow the lead to 13-6. After a Carson turnover, things became interesting when the Steelers scored again to make it 13-12.
The Carson defense consisting of Andreas, Larkin, Luke Myers, Jordan Warren, Phillip Lopez, Gavin Bakkedahl, Adam Larkin, Brandon Basa, Daniel Morrison, Nick Allen, Jarod Butler, Cody Radtke, Skyler Duncan and Gagnon played well. Gagnon came to the rescue again scoring on another 34-yard run to give Carson a 19-12 lead.
The Senator defense again stiffened against the Steeler passing attack to preserve the win and set up another post season game this Thursday against rival Douglas at Stodick park in Gardnerville at 6:30 p.m.
TINY MITES BLUE WINS
The Carson Senators Tiny Mites Blue football team finished its season with a convincing win over the Reno Ravens Purple squad 24-12 on Friday in Reno.
On the second play from scrimmage, Colton Schafer scored his first of three touchdowns, running up the middle for 50-yard touchdown. The Senators offensive line comprised of Gabriel Tatro, Dean Poppenga III, Braxton Carter, Kevin Tooke and Cody Neal played well, and was perfect on all the various snap counts throughout the contest.
Tight end Paul Honein had his best game of the year running an end-around for 20 yards and returning an interception 25 yards. Gabriel Morton returned to the lineup after a two game absence and contributed 30 yards on an end around run.
Adam Fenton was solid running up the middle and on the outside, and added a 50 yard touchdown run to make the score 18-6 Senators at the end of the first half. Quarterback Jacob Sorber led the team effectively and quarterback Chance Sanders had several nice passes throughout the game including a completion to Fenton.
Leading the defense with gang tackling in the middle was Connor McCleary, Sasha Keith-Handschuh, Garrett Tibma, Peter Honein and Malak Kangas. Garrett Wilson, Brandon Mendoza, Carter, Schafer, Fenton and Tatro all assisted on the outside, shutting down nearly every Ravens effort to run outside. The Tiny Mite Blue squad finished the season at 6-2.
Head coach Todd Schafer would like to thank the parents and the Carson City Pop Warner organization for its support. He also praised the hard work of his team. "They truly are a fabulous football team," he said.
CHS FROSH 35, GALENA 6
Dylan Sawyers had another huge game as the Carson High freshmen football team rolled to a 35-6 win over Galena on Thursday.
Sawyers rushed for 234 yards and scored all five touchdowns for CHS (6-1, 5-0 in the Sierra League). He scored three touchdowns on offense, recovered a fumble for a touchdown and returned an interception for a touchdown.
Also for Carson, Austin Pacheco had an interception and was 5-for-5 on extra points, Logan Peternell blocked a punt and played well defensively, Jake Myers and Jordan Siembida each had fumble recoveries and Nick Hershman played well defensively. Carson's offensive line led by Zach White and Stephen Anderson also played well.
GALENA 13, CHS JVS 12
Galena scored on a 50-yard touchdown run with three minutes left in the game to pull out the win against Carson's junior varsity.
Carson cut the deficit to 7-6 when Gabe Pongasi scored on a 30-yard pass from Trey Jensen. CHS then drove down to Galena's 5-yard line, but fumbled the ball on a running play. Chris Steele, though, recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to give Carson a 12-7 halftime lead.
Steele and Tyler Collins led the defensive effort for CHS.