By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS – For the second time in five weeks, last Friday night’s games were postponed to Saturday. The effects of Hurricane Helene had made its way to central Indiana and with high winds and consistent rain, athletic directors throughout the state made the call to postpone games. The 71st meeting between Carmel and North Central was forced to wait until Saturday to renew their old MIC rivalry.
It didn’t take long for the Greyhounds to get back on the right track to cruise to a 48-14 win over the host Panthers.
Carmel forced the Panthers to punt on its first drive. That set the hounds up perfectly with great field position at the North Central 48.
The ‘Hounds made a statement and got on the board quickly with an Anthony Coellner touchdown pass to Dominic Shockley from four yards out for the early 7-0 lead.
On the third play of the ensuing series for NC, quarterback Caleb Foor fumbled deep in their own territory. Outside linebacker Brandon Adams recovered the ball at the Panther 15.
Coellner plunged in from one yard that made it a 14-0 advantage, putting Carmel in control.
“We got up 14-0. We’ve started fast in every game. The trick for us is to be able to pour it on at that point,” said Carmel head coach John Hebert.
“We had a couple of lapses on offense and they got the ball on the 10 and they went for it and we stopped them and that was great, but then we turned the ball back over,” continued Hebert.
After NC turned it over on downs at Carmel’s 10, the two traded punts and it was a little sloppy before it got better again for the Greyhounds.
Jerrek Young picked off at Coellner pass at the 16. That set up North Central’s first score in the final minute of the half, an Eli Thompson touchdown grab from Foor, cutting the margin to 14-7.
“They ended up getting points toward the end of the half. Then, we were fortunate to get the squib kick through and get a touchdown that way. I would not say that we played a clean first half, like we had set out to do. We talked at halftime about narrowing our focus down,” added Hebert.
On the kickoff return, Dominic Shockley picked up the squib kick and raced 80 yards for his first TD that made it 21-7 at halftime.
Carmel came out on a mission in the third quarter. Tailback Andrew Pemberton had consecutive runs of 14 and 45 yards that got the Greyhounds down to the Panther 12 and in business. That set up nicely for Kahlil Hardister to take his turn, finding his way into the end zone for a three-yard touchdown for a 28-7 score.
“I thought we came out that first drive, did really well and the defense stopped them and we scored again,” said Hebert.
North Central punted on its first third quarter possession, keeping any momentum in Carmel’s hands.
“We’re starting to think about guys getting experience. In the third, it felt like we had already transitioned without the 35-point rule. We wanted to get the extra plays,” Hebert added on getting other guys down the depth chart more playing time.
Shockley scored his third touchdown, this time from a five-yarder from Coellner to make it 35-7.
Shockley had quite the day in all three facets. Having already caught two TD passes and running back a kickoff return for a score, Dominic intercepted Caleb Foor’s pass at the 32 as the Panthers were driving.
On the first play, sophomore Josiah Gilmore broke through the line for 67-yards and was marked down at the one. He finished the two-play drive with a one-yard dive on the next play for a 41-7 lead. Matthew Obermeier’s extra-point was blocked.
“Andrew Pemberton is our number one back and he’s real explosive, had a nice long run in the third quarter. Then, we mixed in Kahlil Hardister, number four, he’s a linebacker. Last year, he was an h-back. He adds something there. Josiah Gilmore, sophomore, had a nice run that put the score up to 41. He has a real burst and it’s great to see him emerge,” Hebert said, complimenting the backfield depth.
North Central got its other touchdown on the next drive. Zion Murphy ran 43 yards for the TD.
Carmel freshman Ayden Johnson capped off the scoring with an eight-yard TD for the final score of 48-14.
“I think North Central did some things to us, too, that we’re going to look at on tape and see that they did some things to our offense that we’ve got to look at,” continued Hebert.
North Central (0-6) has now lost 33 in a row and 35 of its last 36. The Panthers are at Lawrence Central (2-4) next.
Carmel (3-3) will head back to Greyhound Stadium for Homecoming this Friday against another former MIC rival in the Ben Davis Giants (1-5).
Andrew Pemberton led the rushing game with seven carries for 81 yards. Josiah Gilmore had six runs for 77 yards and a TD. Kahlil Hardister was solid with 11 rushes for 47 yards and a score. Ayden Johnson had five for 24 and a TD, while Coellner also had a rushing TD.
Coellner was 10 of 19 for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Nathan Williams caught two for 38, Shockley five for 14 and two scores and Jacob Bellin also caught a pair for 27 yards.