The Carmel football team spent much of the first half of the Class 6A Regional 2 championship tied up with Homestead, but a touchdown with 28 seconds left got the Greyhounds ahead.
After that, it was all Carmel. The Greyhounds ran away from the host Spartans in the second half, and clinched a 31-7 victory that gave Carmel its seventh consecutive regional title. It was the only loss of the year for Homestead, which finished the season 11-1.
The Greyhounds will host Merrillville next Friday in the 6A north semi-state. The Pirates beat Warsaw 42-28 to win the Regional 1 championship.
Carmel scored its first touchdown 10 seconds into the game, with Dylan Downing running 67 yards into the end zone on the first play of the game. Spencer Hanna made the extra-point kick.
The Spartans answered a few minutes later, when Jake Archbold caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Luke Goode with 8:48 left in the first quarter. Gunnar Fry’s kick tied the game at 7-7.
That would be the score until the waning seconds of the first half, when Aidan Ellison caught a six-yard TD throw from Christian Williams. Hanna made his second extra-point kick of the game, and Carmel had a 14-7 halftime lead.
The ‘Hounds sailed through the second half. Zach White scored on a seven-yard touchdown run with 7:46 left in the third quarter, then Downing picked up his second score of the game on a nine-yard run with less than a minute to go in the period. Hanna made both extra-point kicks, and he finished the scoring early in the fourth quarter with a 28-yard field goal.
Downing led the offense with 112 yards rushing on nine carries, while White totaled 99 yards on 11 carries. Downing also had three receptions.
The victory improved Carmel’s record to 9-3. The Greyhounds won their 22nd regional championship, and continue to share the record for most regional titles with Bishop Dwenger. The Saints won their 22nd regional Saturday at Harrison, by the score of 35-21.
CARMEL 31, HOMESTEAD 7
Score by Quarters
Carmel 7 7 14 3 – 31
Homestead 7 0 0 0 – 7
Team Stats CHS HHS
First Downs 13 10
By Rush 10 4
By Pass 2 5
By Penalty 1 1
Rushes-Yards 37-281 38-27
Yards Passing 20 136
Comp-Att-Int-TD 5-8-1-1 12-22-0-1
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-Yards 5-60 4-34
Punts-Average 2-39.5 3-26.0
Carmel Scoring
First Quarter
11:50 – Dylan Downing 67-yard run
(Spencer Hanna kick)
Second Quarter
0:28 – Aidan Ellison 6-yard pass from Christian Williams (Hanna kick)
Third Quarter
7:46 – Zach White 7-yard run (Hanna kick)
0:43 – Downing 9-yard run (Hanna kick)
Fourth Quarter
9:28 – Hanna 28-yard field goal
Carmel individual stats
Rushing: Downing 9-112, White 11-99, Gabe Quigley 9-21, Williams 2-17, John Rogers 2-15, Erik Allen 3-11, Zyavonta Blackburn 1-6.
Passing: Williams 3-5-3, Quigley 2-3-17.
Receiving: Downing 3-10, Ellison 1-6, Baron Smith 1-4.