Carmel got off to a rough start during the first few minutes of its game at Louisville Trinity Lutheran on Friday, but the Class 4A No. 3 Greyhounds rebounded quickly, and came home as 49-38 winners.
The Shamrocks jumped ahead 17-0 within the first five minutes of the game. That included a three-and-out and a “pick six,” an interception that leads directly to a touchdown.
“We were just struggling to get going,” said Carmel coach John Hebert.
The ‘Hounds began to come back by getting their own “pick six,” when Winston Berglund jumped in front of an out route and ran about 30 yards for a score. Hebert called that a “spark to the team,” and said the offense really clicked after that.
Sure enough, Carmel got going in the second quarter after trailing 17-7 to end the first period. Beau Willman’s fumble recovery gave the ball back to the Greyhounds, and Zach Osborne took advantage with a 20-yard option run for a touchdown.
Carmel was now within 17-14, and the ‘Hounds took the lead with 4:07 left in the half after Osborne sent a 14-yard pass to Desmond Duffy. Trinity jumped back in front on a 44-yard pass play, but Carmel grabbed the lead going into halftime when Osborne ran 31 yard to score. The Greyhounds were up 28-24 at the break.
“I was really, really pleased with the attitude of our kids,” said Hebert. “They didn’t get down. They just seemed like they were really having fun, too. It was a really good atmosphere on the sidelines, guys really picking each other up.”
Ethan Hall opened the second half with a 30-yard run to get Carmel up 35-24. Trinity scored back-to-back touchdowns to take a 38-35 lead, but the Greyhounds regained the advantage late in the third when Osborne threw a 45-yard pass to Jaedon King. Carmel wrapped up its scoring in the fourth quarter after Osborne rushed 20 yards to score.
Benjamin Sponsler kicked all seven extra points for the Greyhounds.
Complete statistics were unavailable due to technical issues and will run in a later edition.
Carmel will play its home opener next Friday, hosting Detroit King.
