By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Carmel ran its win streak to six games in a row on Friday, cruising past Lawrence Central 42-0 in a chilly game at Carmel Stadium.
The Class 6A No. 6 Greyhounds took care of this Metropolitan Conference game early, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter. As a result, Carmel finished in second place in the MIC with a 6-1 record, behind only unbeaten Center Grove.
“I was more focused on us continuing to take steps forward,” said Greyhounds coach John Hebert. “Really important, because we’ve had a really good five-week stretch going into the game. Lawrence Central’s going through a lot of injuries. Their lineup has changed a lot. We couldn’t come into this game and consider those things, we just had to focus on what we do.”
Carmel scored its first two touchdowns in quick succession. Zach Osborne put the ‘Hounds on the board with a five-yard scoring run with 5:46 left. Carmel then got the ball back right away, and just over a minute later, Zach White made a 10-yard run into the end zone.
“We wanted to establish running the ball,” said Hebert. “I don’t think we threw the ball on the first drive. We’re trying to reinforce our identity, which is to control the ball, control the clock and try to create passing opportunities by doing that. We got to watch the tape and see, but it feels like we played pretty well.”
Osborne added one more touchdown during the last minute of the first quarter on a six-yard run, then Ethan Hall scored during the first minute of the second period, making a three-yard rush into the end zone.
Carmel’s only passing touchdown of the night came at the 9:13 mark of the second quarter, when Osborne threw an 18-yard pass to Colton Parker, who made a perfect catch in the end zone. Then, midway through the second period, Osborne scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a four-yard run.
The ‘Hounds cruised through the second half, the entirety of which was played with a running clock. Carmel got one more score, this one in the fourth quarter when Hall dashed in from 11 yards.
The Greyhounds defense didn’t allow LC past midfield during the entire first half, and wound up holding the Bears to minus 8 yards rushing in the game.
“I thought that we were very focused,” said Hebert. “We had a couple guys back. Luke Conley was back after a two-week absence due to injury, and then we had Dominic Padjean, this was his first action of this year after knee surgery. Guys were excited about that and I thought we had a little extra energy.”
White was the leading rusher for Carmel with 66 yards, while Hall totaled 59 yards. Spencer Hanna went 6-for-6 on extra-point kicks.
The Greyhounds finished the regular season at 7-2 and will take next week off before returning to action on Oct. 30. Carmel will host Pike on that date in the semi-finals of Sectional 5.
CARMEL 42, LAWRENCE CENTRAL 0
Score by Quarters
LCHS 0 0 0 0 – 0
Carmel 21 21 0 6 – 48
Team Stats LC CAR
First Downs 6 16
By Rush 2 14
By Pass 4 2
By Penalty 0 0
Rushes-Yards 22-minus 8 43-221
Yards Passing 78 52
Comp-Att-Int-TD 11-23-3-0 2-3-0-1
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 5-29 3-21
Punts-Average 3-24.3 0-0.0
Carmel Scoring
First Quarter
5:46 – Zach Osborne 5-yard run (Spencer
Hanna kick)
4:39 – Zach White 10-yard run (Hanna kick)
0:37 – Osborne 7-yard run (Hanna kick)
Second Quarter
11:36 – Ethan Hall 3-yard run (Hanna kick)
9:13 – Colton Parker 18-yard pass from Osborne (Hanna kick)
5:43 – Osborne 4-yard run (Hanna kick)
Fourth Quarter
3:30 – Hall 11-yard run (kick failed)
Carmel individual stats
Rushing: White 10-66, Hall 10-59, Osborne 10-41, Jordan Jones 6-35, Nick Beidl 2-9, Leyton Lukowski 3-6, Parker 1-6, Harrison Schmidt 1-minus 1.
Passing: Osborne 2-3-52.
Receiving: Desmond Duffy 1-34, Parker 1-18.