Top-Ranked Carthage Dominates Rival Henderson, 42-17

HENDERSON -- If all defenses had to prepare for was Carthage star running back Keaontay Ingram, the Bulldogs might eventually run into some trouble.

But unfortunately for Carthage's opponents, that's not all the Dawgs have to offer. And Henderson was the latest team to experience that.

Gunner Capps threw four touchdown passes, including a pair of deep shots to Dee Bowens to offset a rare off-night from Ingram, in No. 1 Carthage's 42-17 rout of Henderson in a battle of unbeatens at Lions Stadium on Friday night.

Carthage (5-0, 1-0 in District 9-4A Division I), the defending state champions, ran its winning streak to 15 games with the dominant performance.

“Offensively, we were sloppy in the run game, which is gonna happen a lot of times because Henderson gives you so many looks and twists, and they loaded the box up there," said Bulldogs coach Scott Surratt. "We have to make big plays in the passing game, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Capps completed 12 of his 14 attempts for 241 yards. He tossed a pair of first-half touchdowns to Dewaylon Ingram, and hit Bowens for scores of 70 and 74 yards after halftime.

Keaontay Ingram, the University of Texas commit, scored a touchdown to cap Carthage's first drive of the night, but totaled just 61 yards on 16 carries for the game.

Bowens, who had four catches for 172 yards, was wide open on both touchdowns.

“They were focused on Dewaylon," said Bowens, who is tied with Dewaylon Ingram for the team lead in touchdown receptions with six. "He took them off me, and I was wide open. That was the goal, to get me one-on-one with the corner.”

Dewaylon Ingram caught four passes for 61 yards, and had scoring receptions of 16 and five yards. But it was Bowens who broke the game open in the second half.

“Dee can play, he’s always been able to play," Surratt said. "You can see how well he can run. He can really fly, and we knew he had a chance to make some big plays tonight. Of course you saw Gunner’s arm strength. He’s got a strong, strong arm, and he delivered the ball tonight.”

Carthage put together a solid performance on defense as well. The Bulldogs limited Henderson (5-1, 1-1) to 235 yards on the night, and just 67 in the first half.

Bulldogs senior linebacker Mykel Gates scored on a first-half fumble return to give Carthage its third defensive touchdown in the last two games.

Henderson dual-threat quarterback Trae Hall was bottled up for most of the game. He threw for 153 yards on 9-of-17 passing, but managed only 26 yards on the ground.

“They kept Trae Hall out of rhythm, both in the run game and with the passing," Surratt said of his defense. "We showed him a lot of different looks. (Defensive coordinator Darren Preston) again and his staff did a phenomenal job. I thought we came out in the second half ready to roll again, and dominated the third quarter, and separated ourselves.”

Keaontay Ingram's 1-yard touchdown capped Carthage's 10-play, 67-yard drive to begin the game. A missed extra point, and a 73-yard kickoff return by Henderson's Kourtland Jackson followed.

Three plays later, Hall called his own number and scored from nine yards. Alex Romero's PAT gave the Lions a 7-6 lead with 6:27 remaining in the opening quarter.

Carthage then embarked on a 13-play drive that spanned more than six minutes and returned the lead back to the Bulldogs.

On the first snap of the second quarter, Capps was hit as he released the ball, but Dewaylon Ingram came down with the 16-yard touchdown. Keaontay Ingram ran in the two-point conversion for a 14-7 lead.

Hall fumbled on the ensuing series, and Gates scooped and scored from 20 yards moments later.

Mekhi Colbert's 24-yard punt return deep into Henderson territory, which followed a Lions' three-and-out, set up Capps' second scoring toss to Dewaylon Ingram.

Henderson marched 70 yards on the ensuing series, and Romero's 26-yard field goal cut Carthage's lead to 28-10 just before halftime.

“We were very, very physical, and (the defense) set the tone for the game," Surratt said. "We had the big first drive offensively to get ahead. Then they had the big kickoff return, and that’s really the only (touchdown drive) the defense gave up.”

Bowens' long touchdown catches extended the Bulldogs' lead to 42-10 before Hall reached the end zone from three yards out in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.

Carthage will return home next Friday night to battle Kilgore (5-1, 2-0), while Henderson has its bye week before continuing with district play Oct. 20 at Kilgore.

“We’ve just got to clean up some things, and I think we can be a pretty good football team," Surratt said. "If we don’t clean it up, we’ll be 5-1 next week.”

No. 1 Carthage 42, Henderson 17

At Lions Stadium, Henderson

Carthage 6 22 7 7 -- 42
Henderson 7 3 0 7 -- 17

First Quarter
CAR--Keaontay Ingram 1 run (kick failed), 8:04.
HEN--Trae Hall 9 run (Alex Romero kick), 6:27.
Second Quarter
CAR--Dewaylon Ingram 16 pass from Gunner Capps (Keaontay Ingram run), 11:54.
CAR--Mykel Gates 20 fumble return (Alberto Sigala kick), 10:49.
CAR--Dewaylon Ingram 5 pass from Capps (Sigala kick), 6:03.
HEN--FG Romero 26, 1:18.
Third Quarter
CAR--Dee Bowens 70 pass from Capps (Sigala kick), 9:28.
Fourth Quarter
CAR--Bowens 74 pass from Capps (Sigala kick), 10:50.
HEN--Hall 3 run (Romero kick), 8:00.

CAR HEN
First Downs 13 13
Total Yards 350 235
Rushes-Yards 31-109 28-82
Passing Yards 241 153
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-14-0 9-17-0
Punts-Avg. 1-38.0 3-40.3
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 7-65 3-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Carthage, Keaontay Ingram 16-61, Chad West 6-38, Tucker Smith 3-20, Mekhi Colbert 1-4, Jackson Blissett 1-(-1), Kelan Foster 1-(-1), Dee Bowens 1-(-5), Gunner Capps 2-(-7). Henderson, Trae Hall 15-26, Trevonne Spriggs 2-24, Lynn Freeney 8-15, Daniel Garcia 1-15, Keshoyn Alexander 1-1, DQ Murphy 1-1.
PASSING--Carthage, Capps 12-14-0--241. Henderson, Hall 9-17-0--153.
RECEIVING--Carthage, Bowens 4-172, Dewaylon Ingram 4-61, Keaontay Ingram 2-1, Colbert 1-8, Smith 1-(-1). Henderson, Tyrek Blanton 3-46, Treylun Blanton 1-23, Kourtland Jackson 1-23, Caleb Medford 1-23, Miguel Ruiz 1-20, Quin Hall 1-11, Freeney 1-7.