Carson High junior Noa Tuia (56) chases down Bishop Manogue ball carrier Ryan Rutherford (24) during the Senators’ and Miners first meeting this season.
Thursday, the two squads will clash again in Reno to open up the postseason.
Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage
Prior to last Friday’s results, Carson High football could have been anywhere from the four seed to the seven seed in the upcoming Class 5A North regional postseason.
At 3-3 in league play, the Senators wound up as the seven seed due to an alternate tiebreaker, setting up a rematch with (No. 2) Bishop Manogue Thursday evening.
“It demonstrates quality of wins, I guess … There were a lot of different scenarios,” said Carson head coach Blair Roman of the tiebreaker.
Three weeks ago, the Senators hosted the Miners in a 41-10 loss that Roman felt was closer than the final score showed.
However, Carson will definitely be facing an uphill battle against one of the top teams in Northern Nevada.
“Their quarterback had a really nice game on us. I thought for the most part we did a pretty nice job of containing their run game,” said Roman. “Offensively, we are averaging 17 points per game. There is no reason why we can’t up that by a touchdown in the playoffs.”
Entrenching the Miners
A couple of big plays in their first meeting allowed Bishop Manogue to jump out to a quick lead.
An 84-yard touchdown on a bubble screen and another long score on a corner route, following a blown coverage made it tough for Carson to gain traction.
“We did not play very well on the back end in that game,” said Roman. “We missed a couple tackles on another drive.”
While those are obvious fixes from last time, if Carson can limit the big mistakes it’ll be more difficult for Bishop Manogue to pull away early.
Carson held the Miners to 133 yards rushing on 35 carries – an average of 3.8 yards per carry.
However, it was quarterback Logan Howren (No. 18) that did most of the damage with four touchdown passes and 300 yards through the air.
Dom Marconato (No. 14) caught two of those touchdown passes while Marshaun Brown (No. 2) and Raymond Lawrence (No. 8) each hauled in one.
Getting in rhythm
All three of Carson’s wins this season have come when the Senators have scored 17 points or more.
In order to give themselves the best chances Thursday, the Senators are hoping put up at least 24 points.
“If we can score 24 or more points the rest of the season, which I think we are more than capable of doing, I think it’ll go a long way to helping us,” said Roman.
The Senators are also coming off a bye week, leaving them in a bit of a unique position after having played seven consecutive games since the start of the season.
“It was a very much needed break,” said Roman. “These kids bodies and minds needed a rest. I expect to be able to come in with some nice fresh legs. … For this particular team, this bye week was great timing for us.”
Roman says the Senators are as healthy as they’ve been all season, thanks in part to that bye week.
Carson is 3-1 this season in games in which it rushes for more than 100 yards.
Last time out Manogue limited the Senators to 82 yards on the ground, their fewest rushing yards since Week One.
“They did a real nice job of shutting us down last time so we will have to find some answers,” said Roman. “That’s what a lot of the adjustments will pertain too.”
Thursday’s kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
Regional quarterfinal matchups
No. 8 Douglas (1-5) at No. 1 McQueen (5-1)
No. 5 Spanish Springs (3-3) at No. 4 Reed (3-3)
No. 6 Reno (3-3) at No. 3 Damonte Ranch (4-2)
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