There were too many weapons for the deep and talented Lighthouse Christian Lions. And there were too many turnovers for the Carey Panthers in Friday’s State 1A Division 2 eight-man football playoff.
Defending state champion Lighthouse Christian Academy (8-2) built a 32-0 halftime lead and ended up scoring eight touchdowns in its 54-14 state quarterfinal victory over Carey (7-3) on a mild Friday night on the Twin Falls field turf.
Carey, its outside running attack shut down by the quick Lions defenders, committed four turnovers—two leading to Lighthouse TDs and one coming on an explosive 79-yard TD interception return by senior Eli Berndt (3 TDs, 210 yards).
Lighthouse junior quarterback Logan Bosma (12-for-20, 233 yards) tossed four TD passes and sophomore running back Adam Taylor rushed 19 times for 157 yards and 2 TD. Taylor, who scored on 28- and 46-yard runs, added 9 tackles from his linebacker position.
Almost as devastating was the defense of Lions senior lineman Garrett Lee (20 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries), who played for Carey last year when the Lions beat the Panthers 34-22 in the State 1A Division 2 championship game at Holt Arena in Pocatello.
Yet the Panthers (40.7 ppg), winners of six straight games, earned big advantages over the Lions in offensive plays (82-53), time of possession (33-15 minutes) and first downs (14-10). Carey was solid in third-down efficiency (8-for-16) and fourth-down efficiency (2-for-3).
The Panthers did plenty of things right, a few wrong and, against a tough opponent, had little margin for error.
Carey coach Lane Kirkland said, “Lighthouse has a solid team with size and speed. They have quite a few more skilled kids than we do, so they were hard to match up with. But I was proud of our kids giving everything they had and fighting hard to the finish.”
Senior Carey quarterback Jordan Dilworth (10-for-21, 132 yards, 1 TD) ended his season with 24 TD passes and 17 two-point conversion tosses. Dilworth scored eight TDs. He was constantly under pressure by the Lighthouse defense Friday.
Grinding out rushing yardage led by Christian Zarate (24 carries, 92 yards, 1 TD), Carey held Lighthouse’s 49.0 ppg offensive attack without a touchdown for most of Friday’s first quarter. But big gainers in the Lions’ passing game were a thorn in Carey’s side, then the first of two interceptions set up a Bosma-to-Berndt TD aerial making the score 20-0.
Carey responded with a lengthy 13-play, six-minute drive that moved all the way to the Lions 2-yard-line before two untimely penalties (false start, illegal shift) and two sacks thwarted the scoring chance. The Lions fired back with a 48-yard Bosma-to-Dillon Wilson bomb and quickly made it 26-0.
Berndt’s interception return with less than two minutes left in the half changed it to 32-0.
“We made some early mistakes, and turnovers and penalties hurt us,” said Kirkland. “I really thought the kids never quit. They continued to fight and were much stronger and focused after halftime."
Dilworth’s 50-yard TD pass to leading scorer Luis Garcia (14 TD, 97 points) capped an excellent 10-play, 73-yard, five-minute drive cutting the Lighthouse lead to 38-8. Another solid eight-play, 52-yard Carey drive finished with a two-yard Zarate run for a 46-14 score.
But it was too little, too late.
Kirkland was proud the Panthers made it back to the state playoffs for the eighth straight year. He said, “Seven wins is a good season. We won the games we should have won, with the exception of the bad mistake we made in losing to Dietrich.
“We started off the season with a lot of ups-and-downs, kids missing, and some injuries. By midseason we got back to work and we rounded into good form—with a good, strong finish in the later part.
“Another positive thing was a 3-1 season for our underclassmen and junior varsity team. They had three miraculous wins over Lighthouse, Calvary Christian of Idaho Falls and Butte County. I’m excited to have that coming.”
Lighthouse Christian advanced to play Garden Valley (9-1) in a state semi-final Saturday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. at Garden Valley. The other semi-final match-ups is Sawtooth Conference North champion Dietrich (9-0) playing Salmon River (8-2) in Riggins Saturday at 2 p.m.
Other quarterfinal results were host Dietrich 70-22 over Castleford, Garden Valley 32-8 over host Kootenai and host Salmon River 24-18 over Deary.
2012 state 1a division 2 playoff
Friday, Nov. 2 in twin falls
Lighthouse Christian 54, Carey 14
CAREY........................................ 0..... 0..... 8..... 6 14
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN............ 6.... 26.... 14.... 8 54
SCORING
1st half
LIGHTHOUSE—Adam Taylor, 28-yard run (run failed); 1:08 1st (6-0 L)
LIGHTHOUSE—Logan Bosma, 5-yard run (pass failed); 10:14 2nd (12-0 L)
LIGHTHOUSE—Eli Berndt, 30-yard pass from Logan Bosma (Adam Taylor run); 9:37 2nd (20-0 L)
LIGHTHOUSE—Philip DeMello, 28-yard pass from Logan Bosma (run failed); 2:26 2nd (26-0 L)
LIGHTHOUSE—Eli Berndt, 79-yard interception return (run failed); 1:50 2nd (32-0 L)
2nd half
LIGHTHOUSE—Eli Berndt, 21-yard pass from Logan Bosma (pass failed); 9:34 3rd (38-0 L)
CAREY—Luis Garcia, 50-yard pass from Jordan Dilworth (Christian Zarate run); 4:37 3rd (38-8 L)
LIGHTHOUSE—Adam Taylor, 10-yard pass from Logan Bosma (Dillon Wilson run); 2:44 3rd (46-8 L)
CAREY—Christian Zarate, 2-yard run (pass failed); 10:44 4th (46-14 L)
LIGHTHOUSE—Adam Taylor, 46-yard run (Dillon Wilson, pass from Logan Bosma); 9:10 4th (54-14 L)
KEY STATS........................ CAREY.......................... LIGHTHOUSE
Offensive plays.................... 82.................................. 53
Time of possession........... 32:58................................ 15:02
1st downs, rush................... 9................................... 4
1st downs, pass................. 3..................................... 4
1st downs, penalty.............. 2................................... 2
1st downs, total................. 14............................... 10
Rushes, yards................ 44-167........................... 27-165
Yards per carry.................. 3.8............................... 6.1
Fumbles lost...................... 2................................ 1
Completions, passes....... 10-21........................ 12-20
Completion percentage..... 48%.......................... 60%
Passing yards.................. 132........................... 233
Yards per completion....... 13.2........................ 19.4
Intercepted by................. 0............................... 2
Sacks by, yards............. 1-1............................ 3-18
Returns, yards............. 8-103..................... 6-158
Total yards gained.......... 384........................ 555
3rd down efficiency......... 8-16....................... 1-5
4th down efficiency........ 2-3........................... 1-2
Penalties..................... 9-55......................... 8-57
Punts, yardage............ 5-174....................... 2-84
Yards per punt........... 34.8......................... 42.0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Carey
Rushing—Christian Zarate 24-92, 4 1sts, 1 TD, 1 conv.; Luis Garcia 8-37, 1 1st; Jordan Dilworth 10-25, 4 1sts; Tori Alvarez 2-13.
Passing—Jordan Dilworth 10-21, 132 yards, 3 1sts, 1 TD, 2 interceptions.
Receiving—Luis Garcia 4-61, 1 TD; Tori Alvarez 3-52, 2 1sts; Nate Adamson 1-13, 1 1st; Christian Zarate 2-6.
Fumble recoveries (1)—Gunner Thompson 1.
Sacks (1)—Glen Andrews and Francisco Gamino 1-1.
Kickoff returns—Jordan Dilworth 3-47; Luis Garcia 2-44; Gunner Thompson 1-7; Tori Alvarez 1-3; Nate Adamson 1-2.
All-purpose yardage—Jordan Dilworth 204.
Tackles (41)—Glen Andrews 9, Francisco Gamino 9, Tori Alvarez 6, Matt Whitworth 4, Christian Zarate 4, Jordan Dilworth 4, Gunner Thompson 3, Luis Garcia 1, Patrick Baird 1.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Lighthouse Christian Academy
Rushing—Adam Taylor 19-157 (8.3 yards per carry), 4 1sts, 2 TD, 1 conv.; Logan Bosma 6-5, 1 TD; Dillon Wilson 2-3, 1 conv.
Passing—Logan Bosma 12-20, 233 yards, 4 1sts, 4 TD, 1 conv.
Receiving—Eli Berndt 4-90, 2 1sts, 2 TD; Dillon Wilson 3-89, 2 1sts, 1 conv.; Philip DeMello 3-45, 1 TD; Adam Taylor 2-9, 1 TD.
Fumble recoveries (2)—Garrett Lee 2.
Interceptions (2)—Eli Berndt 1 with a 79-yard TD return; Philip DeMello 1 with a 22-yard return.
Sacks (3)—Garrett Lee 2-11; Kade Evans and Donnie Aardema 1-7.
Kickoff returns—Philip DeMello 1-12; Josh Fadness 1-4.
Punt returns—Eli Berndt 2-41.
All-purpose yardage—Logan Bosma 238, Eli Berndt 210, Adam Taylor 166.
Tackles (72)—Garrett Lee 20, Adam Taylor 9, Philip DeMello 9, Donnie Aardema 7, Kade Evans 6, Luc Fadness 6, Dillon Wilson 5, Eli Berndt 4, Kyle Vanden Bosch 3, Spencer Stephens 2, Thom Thom 1.
Final Carey Football Composite 2012
TOTAL SCORING
Opponents..................... 40........ 82........ 56........ 34.................. 212 (21.2)
Carey........................... 122....... 89....... 124....... 72.................. 407 (40.7)
RESULTS (7-3 overall, 4-1 home, 3-2 away, 4-1 Sawtooth Conference North, 2nd place)
Aug. 31 (Home).................................................... Raft River 54, Carey 20
Sept. 7 (Home)............................................... Carey 46, Owyhee (Nev.) 0
Sept. 14 (Away)........................................................ Dietrich 30, Carey 14
Sept. 21 (Home)......................................................... Carey 50, Mackay 8
Sept. 28 (Home)............................................... Carey 52, Carlin (Nev.) 30
Oct. 3 (Away).......................................................... Carey 64, Richfield 22
Oct. 12 (Home)............................................... Carey 45, Camas County 0
Oct. 19 (Away)...................................................... Carey 52, Rockland 14
Oct. 26 (Away).................................................. Carey 50, Clark County 0
Nov. 2 (Away, 1A Div. 2 playoff).......... Lighthouse Christian 54, Carey 14
SCORING........................................... TD............ CONV.................. PTS.
Luis Garcia.......................................... 14................. 7.......................... 97
Nate Adamson..................................... 12................. 6.......................... 84
Tori Alvarez......................................... 10................. 5.......................... 70
Christian Zarate.................................... 8.................. 5.......................... 58
Jordan Dilworth..................................... 8.................. 3.......................... 54
Patrick Baird......................................... 3.................. 1.......................... 20
Zach Olsen........................................... 2.................. 0.......................... 12
Joe Parke............................................. 0.................. 3............................ 6
Gunner Thompson............................... 0.................. 3............................ 6
Extra point kicks: Garcia 1.
Touchdown passes—Jordan Dilworth 24. Conversion passes—Jordan Dilworth 17. Notes—Carey scored in 31 of 38 quarters....Carey successfully made 33 of 55 conversions (60% success rate)....Carey scored 57 TD—31 on runs from scrimmage, 24 on passes, 1 on defense, 1 on kickoff or punt returns.