Zionsville stuns Carmel on final play

The REPORTER

It began as a night of firsts for Carmel and Zionsville.

The two had never met on the football field until last night and they did everything to lay it all out there. The Eagles were able to score on the final play of the game and iced it with the two-point conversion to stun the Greyhounds, 29-28.

After a scoreless first quarter, both teams got going in the second. Zionsville running back Sam Manna scored two minutes into the quarter for the 7-0 lead.

Carmel answered right back a few minutes later on an Andrew Pemberton 46-yard touchdown run to tie it 7-7.

The Greyhounds took the lead they held at halftime, 14-7, on a Nathan Williams two-yard rushing score.

Zionsville scored on its first series of the third when Zachary Trent connected with Eugene Hilton on a 19-yard scoring strike, tying it again, 14-14.

The ‘Hounds regained the lead once again on another Williams touchdown run for a 21-14 edge.

Zionsville answered again a few minutes into the fourth. Hilton caught a 12-yard TD pass from Trent to tie it for the third time, 21-21.

Sophomore quarterback Jackson Treadway found Jacob Bellin for a 32-yard pass and catch for the 28-21 advantage with 5:16 left.

Carmel held the lead into the final minute, but then Zionsville was deep in Greyhound territory and Trent fumbled into the end zone. It would be recovered by Trent as time expired. Hilton would dive in the two-point conversion that gave the Eagles a 29-28 win.

Andrew Pemberton led Carmel with 20 carries for 146 yards and a TD. Jackson Treadway surely answered the call from the Greyhound coaching staff, completing a perfect 8-for-8 night for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Liam Mann caught four of Treadway’s passes for 58 yards and Bellin two for 39.

Carmel’s season finishes at 3-7 overall. Zionsville (4-6) visits Westfield (9-1) for the Sectional 3 championship next week.