Carson quarterback Jace Keema gets a pass off just before he is hit during Friday's game against Reed.
Carson High’s defense will face a two-headed quarterback system when it hosts McQueen Friday at 7 at the Jim Frank Track & Field Complex.
Carson is 1-2 after a heartbreaking 47-41 loss to Reed, while McQueen is 1-1 after a bye week following its 23-6 win over Manogue two weeks ago. McQueen lost an overtime thriller to Douglas in its opening game.
Normally. teams like to stay away from using two quarterbacks, but so far it has worked for the Lancers, who are averaging more than 400 yards in offense per game.
Joey Cox is 24-for-50 for 332 yards, while Zach Ball has completed 19-for-29 for 255 yards.
“Cox is more of a dropback type of guy, and he started last year,” Roman said. “They like to get Ball out of the pocket.”
The quarterbacks have some good receivers, including Jaydn Gold, who has 20 catches for 268 yards. Alec Crosby has six caches for 136 yards, while Kenyan Perez has eight grabs for 85 yards.
Roman is impressed with McQueen’s defense, which has allowed 26 points in two games. Carson has had success in recent years, but Roman said that has been an anamoly.
“They always game plan well for us,” Roman said. “They run the same front Reed does, but they do a lot of slanting and blitzing.”
The key for the Carson offense is to catch the Lancers in a slant or blitz which will leave gaps open.
STRANGE SERIES: This has been a series of streaks since Roman took over at Carson.
McQueen won the first four meetings — 52-0 in 2008, 38-34 in 2009, a 34-14 post-season win in 2010 and a 28-6 win in 2012.
Carson has won the last three, and two in convincing fashion. Carson won 19-6 in 2013, 42-7 in 2014 and 59-14 last year.
THE ABEL FACTOR: Sierra League play hasn’t started yet, but Carson’s Abel Carter is already a leg up on the field to win Player of the Year honors.
Through three games, Carter has chalked up 655 yards rushing and scored 10 times, passed for 51 yards and a score, and he’s averaging eight tackles a contest at linebacker.
Included in that 655 yards on the ground is a season-best two games of more than 200 yards rushing (298 vs. Desert Mountain and 228 vs. Reed).
“The film bore out what we saw on the field,” Roman said. “One thing people overlook is how well Abel blocks. He had a great game on Friday.”
Carter was a big factor on the Senators’ final drive of the first half when he threw a halfback option pass to Luke Myers, and then threw a scoring pass to QB Jace Keema. On both plays the receivers were wide open, and that’s because Carson was running the ball so well Reed defenders were totally focused on the run.
Roman said he was going to limit Carter’s reps in practice this week.
Asa Carter, Abel’s older brother, won the Player of the Year award the last two seasons.
AIKINS UPDATE: Linebacker Jordan Aikins’ playing time increased against Reed, and he appears almost 100 percent recovered from his elbow injury.
Aikins finished with eight tackles against Reed, including a key stop on third down which forced a second-half punt.
Roman said Aikins played about half the game, and expect his playing time to increase as the Senators inch closer to league play.
INJURY UPDATE: Roman said there were plenty of bumps and bruises from Friday’s game, but he doesn’t expect anybody to miss the McQueen game.