Carson's big rally sinks Vikings in league opener

By JOE SANTORO

Special to the Appeal

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. " Justin Barlow and the Carson Senators refused to believe the scoreboard midway through the third quarter Saturday afternoon at South Tahoe's Viking Bowl.

"Nobody was giving up, no matter what the score was," the Senators' offensive and defensive lineman said, referring to a 22-8 South Tahoe lead. "We just said to ourselves, 'We can't go home with a loss after this game. No way.'"

No way, indeed.

The Senators went home with their first victory of the season instead, scoring 31 unanswered points to take a 39-22 victory in the Sierra League opener for both teams.

"This is the most amazing feeling," Barlow said as the Senators (1-3 overall, 1-0 in league play) walked off the field with a smile on their faces for the first time this season.

"This is such a big win for us," wide receiver Ean Witter said. "This is really going to give us a boost in confidence."

The Senators outscored South Tahoe 31-0 over the final 18 minutes of the game as running back Mark Sinnott found the end zone three times on runs of 4, 35 and 11 yards. The Senators defense also forced four South Tahoe turnovers over those final 18 minutes.

Those 18 minutes, Carson coach Blair Roman said, just might be enough to turn around an entire season.

"This is the type of victory that hopefully can get us going," the first-year Senators' head coach said.

Roman, though, had other thoughts at halftime as he talked to his team in the shade of the tall pine trees that surround the Viking Bowl.

"It was a very frustrating first half," Roman said. "Very, very frustrating. We were lucky to be tied 8-8 at the half. South Tahoe completely outplayed us."

South Tahoe continued its dominance after halftime, taking a 22-8 lead five minutes into the third quarter. The Vikings scored on a 67-yard pass from quarterback Willy Ervin to Michael Burns and on a 5-yard run by running back Jayvon Rich. Rich's touchdown capped a brief 25-yard, four-play drive that was set up by an interception by Noble Lau.

Roman was worried for his Senators.

"You could just feel it on the sideline," he said. "The kids just needed some type of spark, anything to get us going."

That spark came in the form of a 20-yard run by Jake Madden down to the South Tahoe 22-yard line.

I really think that run got us going," Roman said. "After that we really played well."

Sinnott scored from four yards out just three plays after Madden's big run to cut South Tahoe's lead to 22-14. The Senators' defense, which forced five turnovers on the afternoon, then came up with a few sparks of its own.

Barlow pounced on a Rich fumble at the South Tahoe 33-yard line just four plays after Sinnott's first score. The turnover set up an explosive 35-yard touchdown run off tackle down the left side by Sinnott. A two-point conversion pass from Blake Plattsmier to Blake Davidson evened things at 22-22 with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter.

"We really started to get the momentum," Barlow said.

The Senators then opened up their playbook to take a 29-22 lead. After taking a handoff from Plattsmier, Madden lofted a pass to a wide-open Witter for a 45-yard score that stunned the Vikings with 5:25 to go in the game.

"That was my first touchdown," Witter said, smiling. " I was so wide open. I was just hoping I'd catch it."

Roman summoned help from above.

"I was just praying he'd catch it," Roman smiled.

It was the perfect call at the perfect moment to jumpstart a perfect Senator afternoon.

"We like to run the toss a lot and teams know it so they are going to come up and play the run," Roman said. "We put that play in to keep teams honest."

Just two plays after the shocking Madden-to-Witter score, Barlow then fell on a fumble by Tahoe's Ervin at the Vikings' 25-yard line. The turnover set up a 43-yard field goal by Witter, giving the Senators a 32-22 lead with 3:20 to play. Sinnott's final score, from 11 yards out with 1:48 to play, was set up by another South Tahoe fumble (recovered by Davidson) at the 11-yard line.

Barlow had a wonderful game, recovering three fumbles (one by a teammate) and making a huge stop on Rich on a 4th-and-1 run at the Senator 22-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

"Justin is a young player who is still learning," Roman said. "He really played a nice game and he can definitely be a force for us."

The Senators' next game will be at Carson High School against Bishop Manogue Friday at 7 p.m.

"This is just the type of victory that can take us a long way," Barlow said.

CARSON JV 56, SOUTH TAHOE 14

The Senators racked up 600 yards of offense " including 450 on the ground and 150 passing "against the Vikings Saturday at the Viking Bowl.

Offensive linemen Casey Foster, Blake McCoy, Mike Bolanos, Matt Cooper and Zac Hudaco cleared the way for Carson, which jumped out to an 18-0 lead just two minutes into the game.

Chris Marsh opened the scoring and ended a three-play drive with a five-yard touchdown run and followed it by running in a 2-point conversion to make it 8-0.

South Tahoe's luck got no better and after it gave up a safety on a snap that went out of the end zone, Carson quarterback Colby Blueberg hit Zach Herbert for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Blueberg's 2-point conversion completed the 18-0 run.

Carson's Chris Steele scored on a 40-yard reverse and Marsh ran in the 2-point conversion before the Vikings scored a touchdown of their own. South Tahoe added another first-half touchdown, but only after Marsh scampered in from 30 yards out to make it 32-7.

Senators linebacker Tyler Collins was all over the field and Eric DeMar and Gabe Pongasi each added an interception in the first half for Carson, which scored its final 24 points in the third quarter.

Carson quarterback Trey Jensen romped to a 60-yard touchdown run before hitting Pongasi for the 2-point conversion and Eric Garcia scored on runs from 70 and 30 yards. Jensen found Pongasi for the 2-pointer and ran in another as Carson improved to 1-2 on the season.