Eddie Duarte wore many hats on Friday night — kick-off man, punter, PAT kicker and starting offensive lineman.
Duarte filled in for the injured Johnny Barahona on Friday night, and converted all six extra-points attempts and did a solid job placing his kick-offs in Carson’s 42-7 playoff win over McQueen Friday night at the Jim Frank Track & Field Complex.
Carson coach Blair Roman didn’t say how he would split up the kicking chores next Friday when Carson hosts Reno at 7 p.m. in a regional quarterfinal game.
“Eddie really stepped up tonight,” Carson coach Blair Roman said. “He was perfect on the extra points.
“We’ll see (about next week). Johnny has done a heck of a job for us this year. I have a lot of confidence in Johnny. I thought Eddie’s punting was pretty good, too.”
Duarte would like nothing more than to get another chance to kick. Certainly it’s a luxury to have two reliable kickers.
“I felt good,” Duarte said. “Everything went smooth.
“I think all the kick-offs went where the coaches wanted them to go. I’ll take any chance they give me.”
Reno up next
The Senators will now move on to face Reno, which blanked Manogue, 17-0, Friday night. The Huskies are one of the two teams Carson didn’t play this year, Reed being the other. Reno has given up a league-low 90 points all season.
“We faced a solid defense tonight,” Roman said of the Lancers, whose defensive unit was the victim of a poor offensive performance and a huge special teams gaffe in the first half. “Reno’s defense is legit. They are good. We are facing a good challenge.”
Rough second quarter
The second quarter was one Carson would like to forget.
Of the four drives Carson started in the second quarter, only one produced a first down.
Carson suffered through a blocked punt, two interceptions and a punt. The blocked punt came when Asa Carter took too much time to get his rugby punt off. The other punt was a pooch kick by Duarte that rolled dead at the McQueen17. “We had a rough second quarter,” Roman said.
“I’ll take some of the blame for that because of play calling. We got behind the chains a little bit. We’re not a good second and long or third and long team. We need to establish things on first down. We also didn’t execute well.”
Nelson still undefeated
Carson quarterback Joe Nelson is now 4-0 as a starter, though this wasn’t as good as his previous three starts.
He went 5-for-11 for 86 yards, including a 40-yard TD pass to Asa Carter in the third quarter which stretched Carson’s lead to 35-0.