Carson High running back Marcus Montes hits a hole against Spanish Springs last week. The Senators will have their hands full Thursday against the top team in the North, Bishop Manogue.
Photo by Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage.
Carson High football doesn’t expect to be able to shut down Bishop Manogue’s explosive offense Thursday.
That’s not a slight to the Senators more than it is high praise for the Miners.
Bishop Manogue has yet to lose a league game this season and has outscored all five Class 5A North opponents by a minimum of 20 points.
“We just need to buckle down and do our jobs defensively in the secondary,” said Carson High head coach Ryan Boshard.
With a Thursday kickoff, Carson will now have played on three different days.
The practice schedule has been a bit wonky thanks to games on Saturday, Monday and, now, Thursday.
Who to watch for
Bishop Manogue has the most potent offense in the North by a fair margin, having scored more than 50 points over Reed, the second-highest scoring offense.
The Miners’ offense starts with quarterback Logan Howren (No. 15), who has put together 25 passing touchdowns to just four interceptions in seven games.
The senior play-caller has thrown for 1,689 yards, averaging nearly 250 yards through the air.
He’s hitting several receivers, but Ben Scolari (8) has been target No. 1 so far.
Scolari has 27 catches for 665 yards and nine touchdowns, while fellow junior Dom Marconato (14) is second on the team with eight touchdowns and 382 receiving yards.
The options don’t stop there.
Seniors Kristian Ingman (85) and Marshaun Brown (2) have posted nearly 250 yards apiece, while Ingman has five receiving touchdowns.
“It’s the most high-potent offense, or at least one of the two,” said Boshard. “You can never hope to stop an offense like that. What you can do is hope to contain them and give yourself a fighting chance.”
The Senators will need to limit big plays Thursday night if they want to have a chance.
Defensively, Manogue is going to bring pressure and that’s something the Senators’ offense hasn’t handled well this season.
The Miners have 19 sacks and 43.5 tackles for loss as a team through seven games, putting another priority on the Senators making sure they’re steadily moving forward.
Carson will get some pieces back for kickoff, but with a rivalry game next week against Douglas any tougher calls for the coaching staff might sit until the Senators see the Tigers.
“It’s going to come down to our line, getting them to become a cohesive unit,” said Boshard. “Trying to establish the running game is absolutely huge for us.”
