Carson's JoJo Acosta puts pressure on McQueen quarterback Dominique Stallworth during Friday night's game.
It’s not like the Carson High football team shouldn’t know what it’s up against.
Carson (1-2) has another tough challenge on Friday night as it travels to defending Northern 4A champion Reed (1-2) for a 7 p.m. game.
CHS has already gotten a taste of what it will be like to face Reed as the Senators scrimmaged the Raiders in mid-August. Carson also got a taste of the speed it will be facing in last week’s 44-0 loss to McQueen.
“Hopefully our kids have kind of see that live now,” said Carson coach Blair Roman about being ready for the kind of speed his team will face.
Roman is confident his team can hold its own against Reed.
“We’ve definitely got a big challenge ahead of us Friday night,” Roman said. “I feel physically we can match up with them. It’s just a matter of playing a lot better.”
But it would figure Carson will need to force some turnovers against Reed to have a chance. Carson has forced only one turnover so far this season, a Gilbert Vasquez interception in the season-opening 34-27 win over Lower Lake.
The Senators, though, are obviously also going to have to muster more offense if they’re going to have a chance against the Raiders. Even though Carson gave up 44 points, Roman was still pleased with his team’s defensive play considering the lack of offense.
Carson, though, will also have to limit big plays. McQueen running back J.D. Kolb and receiver D.J. Beckham burned the Senators with several big plays.
Beckham opened the game with a 79-yard kickoff return to set up a field goal and also caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Dominique Stallworth.
Kolb rushed for 110 yards on 16 carries and caught three passes for 87 yards.
“We had a tough time containing McQueen’s speed at tailback,” said Roman about Kolb.
It will be more of the same against Reed. “Very athletic team like McQueen,” Roman said.
Reed faltered against a tough early schedule as Manogue made a statement as the possible team to beat in the Northern 4A with a 50-7 rout of the Raiders.
The Raiders then lost to Sac Joaquin section power Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills, Calif., 42-12. Reed, though, righted the ship last week with a 20-7 win over Galena.
Reed is led by quarterback Baylor Horning, who the Senators saw up close what he was capable of during the scrimmage. Horning is 56-of-120 passing for 620 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions this season.
Champ Robertson leads Reed in rushing with 165 yards on 39 carries.
Roman said offensively the Senators will be focused on Dominic Lang, who’s an outstanding defensive lineman.
“They’ve got a lot of athletic guys who play hard,” said Roman about Reed’s defense.
Against McQueen, Roman said he was pleased with the play of middle linebacker Manny Vasquez and outside linebacker Jeremy Heaton, who had 10 tackles.
JoJo Acosta was also a standout on the defensive line as well as on special teams where he had punts of 69 and 51 yards. “Like I said, the kid is just a football player,” Roman said.
Against McQueen, Carson’s defense had kept the Senators within range late in the first half as CHS trailed 17-0.
Roman decided to go for it late in the half on fourth and 2 at the McQueen 48, but Carson didn’t convert. The Lancers went on to score to take a 24-0 halftime lead.
“That was the turning point of the game,” Roman said.
“The biggest thing is we’ve got to move the ball better. If we don’t score, we ain’t going to beat anybody.”
Carson will be helped offensively by the return of Chandler Tierney at left tackle. “Health-wise we’re in pretty good shape,” Roman said.