Carson High's Ethan Hendee looks for a lane against Damonte Ranch Friday night, during the Class 5A North Div. III regional semifinal.
Photo by Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage.
From the opening whistle, Damonte Ranch High School football seemed eager to prove that its 16-14 win over Carson two weeks ago was no fluke.
The Mustangs did just that, scoring touchdowns on their first five drives and ending the Senators’ season behind a 48-10 final in the Class 5A North Div. III regional semifinal.
Carson concludes its season with a 7-5 record and will lose 21 seniors to graduation in the spring.
Damonte Ranch moves into the Class 5A North Div. III regional title game next Friday where they will take on the top seed, No. 1 Galena, after the Grizzlies defeated North Valleys, 40-14, in the other regional semifinal.
“They played us really well. They made their slight adjustments and we didn’t execute,” said Carson High head coach Ryan Boshard.
MUSTANGS TAKE CONTROL
Carson punted on its first two offensive series and Damonte Ranch’s offense immediately went to work.
The Mustangs needed to go 40 yards to score first as Joey Jamison hit Amari Nash for a six-yard passing touchdown.
After the Senators’ second punt, Damonte Ranch marched 53 yards for another score and tacked on a two-point conversion to go up 15-0 toward the end of the first quarter.
Carson was able to respond with a touchdown of its own as Christian Rey capped a 70-yard drive with a 1-yard score on a fullback dive.
Damonte put its foot down after the Senators’ score, using up more than nine minutes of clock en route to their third touchdown in as many drives, taking a 22-7 lead with 2:51 to go in the first half.
The 22-7 lead moved to 22-10 as Carson’s Drake Hardcastle connected on a 20-yard field goal with 1:23 remaining in the half.
Damonte Ranch wasn’t done scoring as the Mustangs used a screen pass to go 65 yards for six before the halftime intermission.
The Mustangs’ 29-10 lead at the half grew to 35-10 as Damonte Ranch continued to push the ball down the field on the Senators.
After the Mustangs’ fifth touchdown, Carson’s Nicholas Heald blocked an extra point.
Damonte went on to score two more times in the fourth quarter before the final horn sounded.
TAKING IT IN
For Carson, the 7-5 record closes out the most successful season the Senators’ have had in terms of wins and losses since 2015.
“First thing I said was how proud I am of them,” said Boshard. “What they brought to this program, … they brought us back. This group of kids put us back on the map.”
As far as the development of his players as people, Boshard said he couldn’t have asked for more.
“In the grand scheme of things with coaching wins and losses are one part about it, … but to me, it’s about what I can get out of these kids to become men. That’s what I am most proud about. How these kids shaped and molded themselves to become men,” said Boshard.