For the week of October 22 - 28, 2003

Defense, late scores
lift Carey 26-20

Panthers erase Rockland’s 14-0 lead

---

Slow starters but excellent finishers, the Carey School football team grabbed another Sawtooth Conference eight-man football victory out of its hat with a fourth-quarter rally Friday night at Derrick Parke Memorial Field.

Tyler Cook, Carey’s sophomore quarterback, targets a pass earlier this season. Cook tied Friday’s game against Rockland with a TD pass and conversion. Express photo by Willy Cook

Coach Lane Kirkland’s Panthers (4-3, 3-3 league) tallied four of the final five touchdowns of the game including two unanswered TDs in the fourth quarter to hold off the visiting Rockland Bulldogs 26-20. Rockland had built a 14-0 lead in the first.

"It was our best team effort of the season," said Kirkland, who credited the Panther defense with stepping up and coming up with key stops. "Everybody came up with big plays and little big plays throughout the game."

Leading rusher and top team scorer Randy Lundergreen (16 carries for 121 yards) broke loose on a 55-yard TD run with 93 seconds left to provide the winning margin for Carey—which has scored 90 points in the fourth quarter of its last five games.

Carey’s 13th win in its last 14 games against Rockland (5-2, 4-2 league) wasn’t assured until sophomore Tadd Green stripped the ball from the back-up Bulldog quarterback with 30 seconds to play. Before losing the fumble, Rockland had driven to the Panther 35-yard-line in a last-ditch attempt to tie or win the game.

"Tadd just took the ball out of his hands. Fumbles (three Carey recoveries) really helped us," Kirkland said.

Carey’s rushing game did plenty of grinding (39 carries for 222 yards). Senior Bryson Ellsworth (19 carries, 96 yards) supported Lundergreen’s running and Ellsworth turned the game around with an 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second.

"Bryson’s runback got us going and gave us momentum," the coach said.

Carey sophomore quarterback Tyler Cook plunged for his first touchdown cutting Rockland’s halftime lead to 14-12.

Then, after the Bulldogs stretched their lead to 20-12, Cook (8-of-14 passes, 102 yards) tossed a six-yard TD pass to Tadd Green and tied the score 20-20 by tossing the two-point conversion pass to senior Ty Simmons.

Carey’s defense led by senior Lundergreen (8 solo tackles, 9 assists) and Ellsworth (7 solos, 9 assists) came up big in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for the tie-breaking and game-winning TD run by Lundergreen (14 TD and 86 points on the season).

The Panthers, winners of three of their last four games, now have a chance to finish their season strong with a home victory over the Dietrich Blue Devils Friday, Oct. 24 in Carey.

 

---

Carey 26, Rockland 20

Rockland. 8 6 6 0 20
Carey 0 12 0 14 26

---

SCORING

Rock—Richard May, 6-yard run (Brad Robinson, pass from May); 4:08 1st (8-0 Rock)

Rock—Andy Nelson, 2-yard run (run failed); 11:57 2nd (14-0 Rock)

Carey—Bryson Ellsworth, 82-yard kickoff return (run failed); 11:40 2nd (14-6 Rock)

Carey—Tyler Cook, 1-yard run (pass failed); 7:57 2nd (14-12 Rock).

Rock—Andy Nelson, 3-yard run (pass failed); 4:05 3rd (20-12 Rock)

Carey—Tadd Green, 6-yard pass from Cook (Ty Simmons, pass from Cook); 6:33 4th (20-20)

Carey—Randy Lundergreen, 55-yard run (run failed); 1:33 4th (26-20 C).

---

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Carey

Rushing—Randy Lundergreen 16-121, 1 TD; Bryson Ellsworth 19-96; Tyler Cook 4-8, 1 TD. Team rushing—39 carries for 225 yards, 2 TD.

Passing—Tyler Cook 8-14, 102 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception; Lundergreen 0-1.

Receiving—Ty Simmons 3-46; Lundergreen 3-41; Ellsworth 1-9; Green 1-6, 1 TD.

Kickoff returns—Ellsworth 1-82, 1 TD; Lundergreen 1-20; Brad Hunt 1-1.

Punt returns—Lundergreen 1-9.

Fumble recoveries (3)—Ellsworth 1, Tadd Green 1, Cook 1.

Sacks—Blake Surerus 1, Luke Harmon 1, Green 1.

Tackle leaders—Lundergreen 8 solo/9 assists; Ellsworth 7 solo/9 assists; Cook 6 solo/4 assists; Surerus 3 solo/3 assists; Harmon 6 assists; Ty Simmons 3 solo/1 assist.

---

SEASON STATISTICS—For seven games, Carey has scored 194 points (27.7 ppg) and allowed 214 (30.6 ppg). The Panthers have outscored opponents 98-36 in the fourth quarter—90 of them coming in the last five games. Leading scorers are Randy Lundergreen 14 TDs, 1 conv. for 86 points; Ty Simmons 5 TDs, 6 conv. for 42 points; Cody Baird 4 TDs, 1 conv. for 26 points; Bryson Ellsworth 2 TDs, 2 conv. for 16 points. QB Tyler Cook has thrown 10 TD passes and 10 conversion passes. The Panthers are 13-for-28 (46%) on their conversion attempts.

---

 

 

Dietrich (3-4, 3-3 Sawtooth) at Carey (4-3, 3-3 Sawtooth)

Time—7:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24.

Place—Derrick Parke Memorial Field, Carey.

Significance—Final Carey game of the season, and "Senior Night," for Panther seniors Bryson Ellsworth, Blake Surerus, Ty Simmons, Randy Lundergreen and MaKay Nielson.

Last week—After starting the season 3-1 including dramatic OT wins over Rockland and Clark County, Dietrich dropped its third consecutive game 34-12 to North Gem at Bancroft.

Coach Lane Kirkland’s comments—"We’re real excited about the game. The kids are already getting up for it. We know a lot of the Dietrich kids and some of our players are related to them. We’ve heard Dietrich likes to throw the ball so we’ll try to be prepared for the pass."

Other games last week—In the other Sawtooth Conference game, Camas County downed Sho-Ban 48-6. Richfield and Clark County had byes. In the Magic Valley Conference, Raft River stayed unbeaten 56-6 at Oakley; host Mackay handled Hagerman 50-12; Castleford outscored visiting Murtaugh 34-20; and Hansen whipped host Shoshone 34-14.

Last year—Carey’s 45.1 ppg offense surpassed itself with a 50-0 mercy-rule road victory at Dietrich. In posting their third straight shutout, the Panthers out-rushed Dietrich 288-45 and amassed a 509-201 advantage in total yardage. Senior Robbie Ellsworth (105 rushing yards) scored 4 TDs and senior Sean Cenarrusa tossed 3 TD passes. Shawn Hennefer rushed 15 times for 130 yards and Destry Simpson topped the defense with 8 tackles. It was the final game of the season for Dietrich (5-3 overall, 3-2 league).

Two years ago—Carey’s defense kept gifted Blue Devil scrambler Chris Maughan in check and the Panthers (6 TD, 513 total yards) won at home over Dietrich 42-30. Destry Simpson had 254 all-purpose yards on offense.

History—Carey has won two straight over Dietrich. The Panthers lost 40-38 at Dietrich in 2000 and fell at home to the Blue Devils 34-26 in 1999. Prior to the most recent four games, Carey had notched eight consecutive victories over Dietrich by a combined 424-96 score (53-12 margin of victory).

This week—In a Sawtooth Conference showdown, North Gem (4-3, 4-2) entertains Rockland (5-2, 4-2) in a league rematch of a non-league game won by host Rockland 36-18 on Sept. 5. The winner of Friday’s game will join Camas County in the league playoffs. Also on Friday: League-leading Camas County (5-2, 5-1) entertains Richfield (2-5, 1-5); and Sho-Ban (3-3, 3-3) visits Clark County (2-5, 1-5). In the Magic Valley Conference: Raft River (7-0, 6-0) entertains Shoshone (1-6, 1-5); Mackay (6-1, 5-1) goes to Hansen (4-3, 3-3); the Murtaugh Red Devils (3-4, 3-3) visit Hagerman (5-2, 4-2); and Oakley (0-7, 0-6) entertains Castleford (3-3, 3-3).

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.