Patience was a virtue for the Carey School football team Friday in its 40-14 Sawtooth Conference eight-man football victory over a stubborn North Gem Cowboys squad, on the eastern Idaho road in Bancroft.
Carey (2-0, 1-0 league) broke open a 14-14 halftime tie with a Trevor Peck touchdown in the third quarter, then added fourth-quarter TDs by Trevor Peck, Antonio Gamino and Caleb Cenarrusa to finish off the Cowboys (0-1, 0-1 league).
Senior Gonzalo Zarate scored twice for coach Lane Kirkland's Panthers and rushed for 103 yards. Junior Gamino rushed for 108 yards including an 84-yard score. Carey out-rushed North Gem by a dominating 301-50 count.
Doing a particularly good job in the second half was the Carey defense led by Jacy Baird (11 tackles, 6 assists), Gamino (8/5, 1 interception), Todd Peck (7/6), Dillon Simpson (7/5), Trevor Peck (6/5, 1 interception) and Zarate (6/1).
North Gem was fired up for the important early-season Sawtooth meeting, having lost 48-6 and 38-0 games at Carey last season and being on the short end of four losses by a combined 192-28 score over the past four football campaigns.
But Carey showed why it is the defending State 1A Division 2 champion and why the Panthers have won 14 consecutive games and seven road games over two seasons. Carey is also 26-0 in regular-season Sawtooth league action since 2005.
Having put a big league win in its pocket, Carey will entertain the Murtaugh Red Devils Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at Derrick Parke Memorial Field. Murtaugh (1-1, 0-1) has played both its games at home, beating Magic Valley Christian 56-6 and losing 50-32 to Dietrich.
Visiting Carey defeated Murtaugh 38-12 last October and has now won five consecutive games over the Red Devils by a combined 244-36 score.
Here are coach Kirkland's comments about Friday's pivotal North Gem game:
Kirkland said, "We had a great opening 7:30 drive to score.
"Then all the things that often occur in a season opener did occur—dropped punts, fumbles, miscues, missed blocks and more.
"We dropped a punt and they recovered and scored and gained some momentum, and then went ahead on a fumble recovery by a 14-6 score.
"We lost focus and desire for a quarter or so and just couldn't get it going on offense, but we hung in there and tied it up before the half.
"The second half we came out solid on defense and held them scoreless the rest of the game. The defense turned up the heat and the hits and got things going for us after a while with a couple of fumble recoveries of our own and a Trevor Peck interception. We scored late in the third and then showed some devastating blocking for the run game to finish very strong in the fourth and put the game away.
"I was very impressed with our solid defense against the spread offensive attack of North Gem. We came up and made some great hits and kept them in check all night. This was a great test for us, especially on the road.
"Our opponents have really thrown some different things at us on both sides of the ball to get us off our game and try to hit the bulls-eye. I am proud of the kids for hanging in there and using their battle-tested experience over the years to figure it out, go work and come out on top.
"We have a lot more mental work to do, though."
CAREY Line Score
Carey 40, North Gem 14
CAREY. 6 8 6 20 40
NORTH GEM 8 6 0 0 14
SCORING
1st half
CAREY—Gonzalo Zarate, 2-yard run (pass failed); (6-0 C)
NORTH GEM—Taylor Starks, 17-yard pass from Tyler McLain (T. Colton Davids, pass from McLain); (8-6 NG)
NORTH GEM—Taylor Askew, 8-yard pass from Tyler McLain (pass failed); (14-6 NG)
CAREY—Gonzalo Zarate, 9-yard run (Zarate run); (14-14)
2nd half
CAREY—Trevor Peck, 2-yard run (run failed); (20-14 C)
CAREY—Trevor Peck, 3-yard run (run failed); (26-14 C)
CAREY—Antonio Gamino, 84-yard run (Wacey Barg, pass from Trevor Peck); (34-14 C)
CAREY—Caleb Cenarrusa, 4-yard run (run failed); (40-14 C)
KEY STATS CAREY NORTH GEM
1st downs, total 15 10
Rushing yardage 301 50
Fumbles lost 2 1
Completions, passes 6-10 17-40
Completion percentage 60% 43%
Passing yards 30 140
Yards per completion 5.0 8.2
Intercepted by 2 0
Sacks by, yards 3-12 1-4
Returns, yards 7-54 8-53
Total offense 331 190
Penalties 5-50 4-27
Yards per punt 21.3 22.6
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Carey
Rushing—Antonio Gamino 18-108, 1 TD; Gonzalo Zarate 16-103, 2 TD; Trevor Peck 12-81, 2 TD; Dillon Simpson 2-5; Caleb Cenarrusa 1-4, 1 TD..
Passing—Trevor Peck 6-10, 30 yards.
Receiving—Dillon Simpson 2-32.
Interceptions (2)—Trevor Peck 1, Antonio Gamino 1.
Sacks (1)—Allen Peck 1-8.
Kickoff returns—Jacy Baird 2-23, Antonio Gamino 1-3.
Punt returns—Dillon Simpson 3-18, Wacey Barg 1-10.
Tackles—Jacy Baird 11 tackles/6 assists; Antonio Gamino 8/5; Dillon Simpson 7/5; Todd Peck 7/6; Trevor Peck 6/5; Wacey Barg 4/4; Tyler Chavez 4/4; Gonzalo Zarate 6/1; Shane Bingham 2/2; Lynn Mecham 2/2; Caleb Cenarrusa 2/0; Chance Chavez 1/1; and Charlie Rivera 1/1.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—North Gem
Rushing—Tyler McLain 11-51.
Passing—Tyler McLain 10-24, 69 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception; Austin Wuttke 7-16, 71 yards, 1 interception.
Receiving—Taylor Askew 5-46, 1 TD; Taylor Starks 5-40, 1 TD; Justin White 2-37; Garrett Thompson 2-8; Tyler McLain 2-5; T. Colton Davids 1-4.
Kickoff returns—Justin White 2-22; Tyler McLain 2-14.
Punt returns—Riley Askew 1-10.
Tackles—T. Colton Davids 14 tackles/6 assists; Taylor Starks 12/9; Justin White 12/10; Tyler McLain 10/6; Merrill Hall 7/4; Taylor Askew 7/2.