Carson falls to Reed in finals

RENO — The Carson Senators were going to need a near-perfect effort to dethrone the Reed Raiders.

It just wasn’t in the cards.

The Senators turned the ball over three times resulting in 21 points, and Jorden Carter rushed for 242 yards and three scores to lead the undefeated Raiders to an easy 56-28 win in the Division I regional championship Friday night at Damonte Ranch High School.

Reed improved to 13-0, while Carson, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped, finished the season at 10-2.

“We just couldn’t stop them,” Carson coach Blair Roman said after watching his team yield 640 yards. “They have a great program. We knew we would have trouble stopping them on offense, which puts a lot of pressure on our offense to play near-perfect football. We just didn’t get enough stops.

“Jorden Carter is a great player, and the same goes for Matt Denn. And their offensive line, we just couldn’t stop them.”

There is a long line in Northern Nevada. Nobody has been able to put the clamps on the Raiders, who host Bishop Gorman next Saturday at noon.

Despite the lopsided loss, it was a great season for the Senators, who won the Sierra League title again and reached the regional championship again.

“We don’t have anything to hang our heads about,” Roman said. “We won 10 games for just the third time in school history, and we won 10 straight games for the second time in school history.”

“We had a good season,” senior quarterback Joe Nelson said. “They are a really good team.”

Carson scored on two of its first three possessions, including a nice 72-yard, 15-play drive to open the game. Asa Carter, who had 146 all-purpose yards, capped the drive with a 10-yard run.

The Senators converted three third-down plays on the drive, one each by Asa Carter, Tyler Huling and Ian Schulz, who saw some action at wingback.

That’s the way to beat the Raiders is to play keep away, but Carson was unable to match that first drive in terms of time of possession.

A 38-yard return on the ensuing kick set the Raiders up at their own 44, and it didn’t take long to get into the end zone — eight plays to be exact. Robert Ferrel caught a 2-yard scoring pass from Denn.

Carter had an 18-yard run, Denn an 11-yard run and Denn had a 12-yard completion to Ferrel. The completion was on a screen pass which Carson was never able to stop.

“It’s a matter of understanding the coverage,” Reed coach Ernie Howren said. “They were giving us a lot of room out there.”

And, Reed did a great job of blocking downfield the entire night on that play.

Reed scored on eight of its first nine possession with its starters in the game. It might have been a perfect 8-for-8 had it not been for Ikela Lewis tackling Denn at the 1-yard-line at the end of the first half.

Carson drove to the Reed 36 on its next drive, but Nelson’s pass over the middle intended for Huling was tipped and intercepted by Kyrin Lennon at the Reed 34.

It took five plays for the Raiders to turn it into a score. Denn capped the 66-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring run. The PAT made it 14-7 with 10:58 left in the second quarter.

“Their linebackers fill hard, and we were just trying to throw a little pop pass,” Nelson said. “Unfortunately, Tyler couldn’t come up with it.”

Carson answered back quickly, as Abel Carter (18 carries, 126 yards) broke loose for a 59-yard TD run to cap a five-play 80-yard drive.

The PAT tied the game at 14 with 9:24 left in the opening half.

After that, it was all Reed, and Carson was unable to answer.

Reed drove 74 yards on the ensuing drive with Carter scoring the first of his three scores, this one on a 2-yard run which gave the Raiders the lead for good, 21-14, with 6:05 left.

Nelson had a pass picked off by Kyer Geisinger at the Reed 41. The Raiders converted again, this time on a 3-yard run by Denn to make it 28-14.

Carson tried to answer, driving to Reed’s 24. On fourth-and-4, however, Jake Roman’s snap was low, and holder Brandon Gagnon had no choice but to try to run and was thrown for a 6-yard loss.

“We were just trying to put some points on the board,” Blair Roman said. “We wanted to get some momentum going into the half.”

The Raiders scored on four straight possessions to start the second half, including runs of 61 and 4 yards by Carter.