Carson's Ben Granados (18) and Gilbert Vasquez (3) try to corral McQueen running back JD Kolb during Friday's game.
RENO — If there was ever game in which a team couldn’t look at the scoreboard to determine its effort this was it.
Little mistakes led to big plays which led to a snowball effect that ended up leading to a 44-0 loss for the Carson High football team on Friday night at McQueen. CHS had its moments throughout the game, but in the end it was just a game that continued to get away gradually from the Senators.
“I think the best thing is we really fought hard tonight,” Carson coach Blair Roman said. “I feel like we had some positive things to build off of. Unfortunately the score doesn’t show it. Actually I was proud with the way the kids played tonight.”
But Roman is also a realist, knowing his team still has a long way to go.
“We’re not at a point that we can make little mistakes – that leads into big plays,” he said. “That’s just tough to overcome.”
The first big play came on the opening kickoff when D.J. Beckham returned the kick 79 yards to the CHS 20-yard line. But the Carson defense stiffened, forcing McQueen to settle for a 32-yard field from Derek Bass and a 3-0 lead.
Carson couldn’t get anything going on its opening drive but JoJo Garcia’s 69-yard punt and a penalty backed McQueen to its 10. But McQueen used a 55-yard pass from Dominique Stallworth to J.D. Kolb that set up Kolb’s 28-yard touchdown run for a 10-0 lead.
Kolb had another huge night of big plays, rushing for 110 yards on 16 carries and catching three passes for 87 yards.
Carson responded by putting together its best drive of the night. Chance Smith had a 17-yard run and Johnny LaPlante completed a 17-yard pass to Sethro Griffith to the McQueen 15, but the drive stalled when Ben Granados’ 30-yard field goal attempt bounced off the left upright.
On the next play Stallworth completed an 80-yard touchdown pass to Beckham for a 17-0 lead. Carson then couldn’t get off a punt, giving McQueen the ball at its own 14. But the Senator defense stiffened again, forcing McQueen into a missed field goal.
Kolb scored on a 3-yard run with 26.9 seconds left in the half to give the Lancers a 24-0 lead.
Garcia’s 51-yard punt pinned McQueen deep again in the second half but the Lancers went on to put together a drive, scoring on Nick Ryan’s 33-yard run to take a 31-0 lead.
From there it was pretty much a game in which both teams got to empty their benches. McQueen, though, with Stallworth still in the game, decided to have Stallworth run for a 7-yard touchdown off the read option on the game’s final play for the final margin. That certainly had to leave a bitter taste in the Senators’ mouth.
Bradley Maffei led Carson in rushing with 39 yards on 10 carries.