CORSICANA -- Last week, Taylor scored a first-round upset of Waco La Vega, and Carthage almost fell in a bi-district upset to Palestine. Friday night at Tiger Stadium was a totally different story.

Carthage outgained Taylor by more than 200 yards in the first half, when Blake Bogenschutz fired three touchdown passes en route to a 56-21 blowout of the Ducks in a Class 3A Division I Region III semifinal.

Carthage (10-2) faces Silsbee (10-2) in the 3A Division I Region III championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lufkin's Abe Martin Stadium.

Carthage outgained Taylor 284-49 in the first two quarters to build a 35-7 halftime lead. Third-quarter touchdown runs from Bryian Bolton (35) and Tevin Pipkin (37) preceded a 15-yard touchdown pass from reserve QB William Rittenberry to James Marshall for a 56-7 advantage halfway through the third.

Bogenschutz, who threw only one pass after halftime, completed 15 of 30 attempts for 204 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Fellow juniors Tee Goree (29), Okeeron Rutherford (5), and Kolby Blissett (14) caught touchdown strikes. Goree caught five balls for 80 yards, including his 16th touchdown of the season, which ties him with Edward Pope for second on the Bulldogs' single-season TD reception list (Jalen Claiborne caught 18 in 2010). Rutherford caught four passes for 55 yards.

Pipkin, also a junior, had another solid night on the ground, carrying 14 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Bolton, a sophomore who starts at safety, and senior middle linebacker Trent Jackson had great nights on both sides of the ball. Bolton had the aforementioned touchdown run in addition to a first-half interception, his seventh of the year to put him in third place in single-season school history behind Jason Teague (8, 2005) and Anthony Williams (8, 1991). Jackson scored a three-yard first-half touchdown run and also had a sack and an interception.

Junior Keldrean Strong had an interception to end the first half.

Taylor QB Jeremy Snyder was forced to throw much more than usual thanks to Carthage's stuffing of the Ducks' running game. Snyder was 10-for-28 for 59 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.

Taylor (5-7) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns after Carthage's reserves turned the ball over twice to give the Ducks short fields. Carthage shut down Taylor, outgaining the Ducks 407-103.

Carthage scored the game's first three touchdowns before Taylor capitalized on one of Carthage's two first-half turnovers to cut the Bulldog lead to 21-7 on Snyder's four-yard touchdown pass to Tim Bailey five minutes into the second. Carthage answered with Goree's 29-yard touchdown grab and Blissett's 14-yard touchdown grab, which came 13 seconds before halftime for a 35-7 lead at the break.

Taylor's Isaac Franco had a solid game in defeat. Franco had six touches for 34 yards on offense, plus an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup defensively.

Carthage's Tevin Pipkin tries to shed Taylor's Dylan Townsend (3) during the Bulldogs' 56-21 victory Friday in Corsicana. (Bud Worley, ETSN.fm)
Carthage's Tevin Pipkin tries to shed Taylor's Dylan Townsend (3) during the Bulldogs' 56-21 victory Friday in Corsicana. (Bud Worley, ETSN.fm)
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Class 3A Division I Region III
Semifinal

Carthage 56, Taylor 21
Tiger Stadium, Corsicana

Taylor -- 0 7 0 14 -- 21
Carthage -- 14 21 21 0 -- 56

First quarter
CAR -- Okeeron Rutherford 5 pass from Blake Bogenschutz (Jimmy Gonzalez kick) -- 5:31
CAR -- Tevin Pipkin 29 run (Gonzalez kick) -- 3:07
Second quarter
CAR -- Trent Jackson 3 run (Gonzalez kick) -- 11:57
TAY -- Tim Bailey 4 pass from Jeremy Snyder (Miguel Morales kick) -- 7:19
CAR -- Tee Goree 29 pass from Bogenschutz (Gonzalez kick) -- 6:31
CAR -- Kolby Blissett 14 pass from Bogenschutz (Gonzalez kick) -- 0:13
Third quarter
CAR -- Bryian Bolton 35 run (Gonzalez kick) -- 10:51
CAR -- Pipkin 37 run (Gonzalez kick) -- 9:45
CAR -- James Marshall 15 pass from William Rittenberry (Gonzalez kick) -- 5:29
Fourth quarter
TAY -- Raymond Roriguez 2 run (Morales kick) -- 9:18
TAY -- Dustin Johnson 8 pass from Snider (Morales kick) -- 2:55

                                  TAY          CAR
First downs                  6             19
Total Yards                 103          407
Rushes-Yards          24-44      31-188
Pass Yards                  59           219
Comp.-Att.-Int.       10-28-3    16-33-2
Penalties-Yards          4-40        3-24
Fumbles-Lost              1-1          6-2
Punts-Avg.                 6-27.3       0-0

INDIVIDUAL
Rushing -- Taylor: Armando Solis 6-19, Isaac Franco 5-18, Raymond Rodriguez 12-16, Jeremy Snyder 1-(-9). Carthage: Tevin Pipkin 14-123, Derontay Brown 6-40, Bryian Bolton 2-35, Christian Allison 3-4, Trent Jackson 1-3, TEAM 2-(-8), Blake Bogenschutz 3-(-9).
Passing -- Taylor: Jeremy Snyder 10-28-3 59. Carthage: Blake Bogenschutz 15-30-1 204, William Rittenberry 1-2-0 15, Badie Harvey 0-1-1 0.
Receiving -- Taylor: Tim Bailey 4-12, Reagan Fischer 2-21, Dustin Johnson 2-8, Isaac Franco 1-16, Juesse Reyes 1-2. Carthage: Tee Goree 5-80, Okeeron Rutherford 4-55, Major Harris 3-30, James Marshall 1-15, Kolby Blissett 1-14, Tevin Pipkin 1-13, Bryian Bolton 1-12.

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