Carmel ran its win streak to four straight games on Friday, taking care of North Central 50-19 Friday at the Panthers’ field.
The Panthers got an early score on the Greyhounds, but Carmel took over after that by scoring 30 straight points. Aydrian Caldwell got the ‘Hounds on the board by catching a 23-yard touchdown throw from Jack Kazmierczak.
“I thought that was a good answer by our offense,” said Greyhounds coach John Hebert.
The defense stepped up in the second quarter, and scored a few more points for Carmel. The Greyhounds blocked a punt, which Tim Haas picked up and took 30 yards to the end zone. Arty Bryant added two more points with a safety. Levell Stewart finished the half by making a four-yard touchdown run, and Carmel led 23-7 at the break.
Stewart put in another touchdown two minutes into the third quarter, taking the ball in from the one-yard line. North Central’s Kiadre Perkins interrupted the Greyhounds’ scoring with a 30-yard touchdown run with 6:51 left in the period.
But Carmel answered right away, with Reece Bellin taking the kickoff return 83 yards to score. The Greyhounds led 36-13 after three quarters, then scored twice in the fourth. Alijah Alfayyad made a one-yard run and Aidan McFall scored on a 42-yard interception return.
“We played complementary football and we got the running clock with about eight minutes to go in the game, which was really nice to do,” said Hebert.
Alfayyad led the offense with 151 yards of rushing, while Kazmierczak had an efficient night, completing nine of 13 pass attempts. Ben Sponsler was 6-of-6 for extra-point kicks.
Carmel is 4-2 and hosts Ben Davis next Friday.
CARMEL 50, NORTH CENTRAL 19
Score by Quarters
Carmel 7 16 13 14 – 50
North Central 7 0 6 6 – 19
Team Stats CAR NC
First Downs 18 11
By Rush 14 4
By Pass 4 7
By Penalty 0 0
Rushes-Yards 42-261 21-52
Yards Passing 72 209
Comp-Att-Int-TD 9-14-0-1 10-26-2-2
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-97 5-21
Punts-Average 0-0.0 5-27.6
Carmel Scoring
First Quarter
5:02 – Aydrian Caldwell 23-yard pass from Jack Kazmierczak (Ben Sponsler kick)
Second Quarter
9:54 – Tim Haas 30-yard blocked punt return (Sponsler kick)
6:39 – Arty Bryant safety
0:29 – Levell Stewart 4-yard run (Sponsler kick)
Third Quarter
10:00 – Stewart 1-yard run (run failed)
6:39 – Reece Bellin 83-yard kickoff return (Sponsler kick)
Fourth Quarter
8:57 – Alijah Alfayyad 1-yard run (Sponsler kick)
7:18 – Aidan McFall 42-yard interception return (Sponsler kick)
Carmel individual stats
Rushing: Alfayyad 17-151, Stewart 13-56, Christian Peterson 3-16, Colin Johnson 4-15, McFall 2-10, Nicholas Beidl 1-10, Kazmierczak 2-3.
Passing: Kazmierczak 9-13-72, Cam Carmichael 0-1-0.
Receiving: Bellin 6-29, Caldwell 2-30, Alfayyad 1-13.