It didn't take long for the reigning State 1A Division 2 eight-man football champion Carey Panthers to get their offense fired up Friday in their season-opening game against the Shoshone Indians, at Carey.
Led by the passing of senior quarterback D.J. Simpson (17-for-24, 279 yards, 6 TD), the Big Blue scored two touchdowns in the first four-and-a-half minutes and led 24-0 over Shoshone after one quarter at Derrick Parke Memorial Field in Carey.
Carey withstood a second-quarter rally by the physically bigger Shoshone squad that made the halftime score 40-18, then the Panther defense shut out Shoshone in the second half to complete the 54-18 triumph.
Senior Scott Ellsworth scored three touchdowns on passes covering 4, 24 and 21 yards. Senior Blake Whitby tallied twice on Simpson tosses from 8 and 52 yards. Whitby (14 tackles) and sophomore Brad Peck (13) topped the defense.
"Our passing game was outstanding," said Carey coach Lane Kirkland. "Receivers like Scott (Ellsworth) and Heith (Adamson) did a great job breaking free and D.J. (Simpson) put it right on the money."
Although the Big Blue racked up 558 yards in total offense (Shoshone had 264), Carey had too many turnovers (4 lost fumbles) and penalties (10 for 78 yards).
Kirkland said, "That's to be expected in a first game with new players. We have a lot to work on this week."
In the first quarter Carey's defense excelled—holding Shoshone's running game to six yards and adding two sacks. The Carey offense piled up 69 passing yards and 63 by rushing in the first period including a 43-yard scoring dash by senior Connor Rivera (85 yards).
On its passing patterns Carey had a lot of success clearing out areas and dropping a receiver into the open area so that Simpson could dump off a pass for a big gainer. Simpson also scrambled well to create opportunities.
Shoshone's bigger offensive line took over the game in the second quarter and pushed Carey around for three scores, two after turnovers. Most of the scoring, eight TDs and 58 points, came in the first half.
On Shoshone's opening drive of the second half, Whitby made two timely tackles and Ellsworth wrapped up Indian QB Juan Villagomez on fourth-and-five at the Carey 35. The Panther offense took over—and it was all Blake Whitby.
Whitby ran seven yards on a slant and added six more. He caught a screen pass from Simpson on the right side, headed back to the left, switched the ball to his left hand, got a nice block from Kade Peterson and found open field for a 52-yard score.
The Big Blue defense held again and Rivera dashed 20 yards with a pitch into Indian turf. A holding penalty and sack pushed the Panthers back, but Simpson avoided an Indian rush by rolling to the right on third-and-21 and finding Heith Adamson way downfield. Adamson caught the pass at the 20 and ran home for a 46-yard touchdown—Carey's final TD.
Carey won for the 13th time in the last 14 meetings with Shoshone, those games favoring the Panthers by a combined 558-132 margin. Carey doesn't have nearly as much history with its next foe, Oakley.
Although 1989 Carey graduate Kirkland had his first grid coaching job at Oakley in 1998, the two teams have played only once in eight-man football.
Carey rallied from a 36-24 fourth-quarter deficit on a rainy Oct. 2003 evening to beat the host Hornets 40-36 with QB Tyler Cook (19-for-30, 195 yards) throwing four TD passes and Randy Lundergreen (137 yards rushing) scoring four times.
Oakley (4-4 in 2005, 6-3 with a 39.1 scoring average last fall) has been knocking on the Magic Valley Conference door for coach Nick Greenwell the past two seasons. Senior running back Colton Bedke leads a deep Hornets squad that whipped Murtaugh 58-18 last Friday on the Oakley gridiron.
Kirkland said, "Oakley will be a tough team. They've got speed, fairly decent size and experience. It will be a challenge for us."
Game time is 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31 for the important early-season non-league meeting between Carey (1-0) and Oakley (1-0) at Derrick Parke Memorial Field. It is preceded by the junior varsity game at 4 p.m.
Carey junior Heith Adamson was a factor for the Panthers, returning two kickoffs for 41 yards, rushing for 27 yards and catching two D.J. Simpson aerials including a nice 46-yard TD pass to finish the 54-18 win. Head referee Brian Shields checks his progress in the background. Photo by David N. Seelig
