Intriguing Line-of-Scrimmage Matchups Featured When Chapel Hill Visits No. 1 Carthage

Chapel Hill Bulldogs (1-1)

vs.

No. 1 Carthage Bulldogs (2-0)

7:30 p.m. Friday

Bulldog Stadium, Carthage

Coaches

• Chapel Hill: Thomas Sitton
• Carthage: Scott Surratt

Last week

• Chapel Hill: lost 42-34 to Whitehouse (in Tyler)
• Carthage: won 45-17 at Lindale

Next week

• Chapel Hill: vs. Palestine
• Carthage: vs. Nacogdoches

Playmakers

Chapel Hill

• RB/MLB Joseph Clark, Sr., 5-9, 180 (committed to Texas Tech; 17 carries, 183 yards, 2 TDs; 4 catches, 38 yards, 1 TD)
• QB Andrew Black, Sr. (31 of 59, 274 yards, 2 TDs; 3 INTs; 18 carries, 83 yards, 3 TDs)
• RB/OLB Wesley Thompson, Sr., 6-1, 185 (23 carries, 219 yards, 2 TDs)
• RB Jesse Mumphrey, Sr. (15 carries, 160 yards, 3 TDs)
• OL/DL Shaquille Warren, Sr., 6-2, 250
• OL/DL Keith Minor, Sr., 6-3, 237
• TE/DL Kevone Kennedy, Sr., 6-2, 225
• WR/CB Gabriel Robinson, Sr. (6 catches, 39 yards)
• RB Kenyotta Henderson, Sr. (9 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD)
• ATH Reggie King, Soph., 5-10, 180 (8 catches, 36 yards)

Carthage

• QB Blake Bogenschutz, Sr., 6-1, 180 (committed to UTSA; 33 of 57, 655 yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs; 10 carries, 32 yards, 1 TD)
• WR/S Terian "Tee" Goree, Sr., 6-2, 170 (16 catches, 329 yards, 6 TDs; 7 tackles)
• RB/DB Tevin Pipkin, Sr., 5-10, 165 (38 carries, 291 yards, 3 TDs; 2 catches, 41 yards)
• WR O'Keeron Rutherford, Sr., 6-5, 181 (8 catches, 166 yards)
• OL/DL Mario McCain, Sr., 6-0, 220 (15 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 forced fumble, 5 QB pressures)
• TE Marquise Guinn, Soph., 6-4, 220 (4 catches, 95 yards, 1 TD)
• DE Jarrod McLin, Soph., 6-3, 220 (13 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 recovery, 6 QB pressures)
• OT Adrian Goodacre, Sr., 6-4, 318 (committed to ULL)
• RB/S Bryian Bolton, Jr., 5-10, 175 (7 carries, 67 yards, 1 TD; 9 tackles)
• OLB D'vodney Brooks, Sr., 6-3, 205 (25 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 forced fumble)

Just the facts

• Friday's game is the 32nd meeting between Chapel Hill and Carthage.
• Carthage leads the all-time series 23-8.
• Carthage won last year's meeting 30-6 at Chapel Hill.
• However, Chapel Hill won the previous two meetings in 2010-11, including a 46-14 non-district win in 2010 that is Carthage's most lopsided loss in Scott Surratt's tenure, which dates to the 2007 season.
• Chapel Hill beat Carthage 21-20 in 2011, when Chapel Hill won the Class 3A Division I state title. That was the season following Carthage's third consecutive Class 3A Division II state championship.
• Chapel Hill and Carthage have combined for five state championship appearances and four state crowns since 2008.
• In all, the two programs have seven combined state title appearances. Carthage is 3-1 with its lone loss coming in the 1991 Class 4A championship against College Station A&M Consolidated. Chapel Hill is 2-1 with its only loss coming in the 2010 Class 3A D-I title game to Henderson. Chapel Hill's first state title came in 4A in 1989.
• Chapel Hill senior Joseph Clark is committed to Texas Tech as a defensive back. He holds additional FBS offers from Air Force and Texas State.
• Chapel Hill senior Wesley Thompson ran a laser-timed 4.49-second 40-yard dash at the ETSN.fm Football Recruiting Combine on May 19.
• Carthage senior receiver Terian "Tee" Goree holds seven FBS offers: Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, North Texas, ULL, ULM, and UTSA.
• Both teams have beaten Lindale: Chapel Hill won 56-37 in the season opener before Carthage won 45-17 last week.

Key matchup: Carthage offensive line vs. Chapel Hill defensive line. East Texas football fans know every year that Carthage's offensive success revolves around the Bulldogs' ability to run and pass at exceptional levels. That's the point of their complex pro-style offense -- being able to run or pass regardless of almost any down-and-distance situation.

Carthage boasts an offensive line that averages more than 260 pounds per player. The left side of the line is especially large. Guard Griffin Bankhead is 6-foot-3, 301 pounds, while tackle Adrian Goodacre, who is committed to Louisiana-Lafayette and has an offer from Houston, is 6-foot-4, 318 pounds. Center Cade Clinton and right tackle Dillon Husar are two-year starters, while right guard Mario McCain, who also starts on the defensive line, is a four-year varsity starter on the offensive line, playing three different positions in the process.

That group faces a Chapel Hill defensive front that fueled its team's defensive turnaround during the second half of last week's 42-34 loss to Whitehouse in Tyler. Seniors Keith Minor, Shaq Warren, and Kevone Kennedy give defense-inclined head coach Thomas Sitton, who played safety in college at SFA, three front-line defenders who are big, athletic, and virtually interchangeable.

That trio spearheaded Chapel Hill's second-half pass rush against Whitehouse, helping Chapel Hill, which yielded more than 360 first-half passing yards, hold Whitehouse to about 30 in the final two quarters before falling short in its comeback attempt.

While establishing a consistent running game is always Carthage's top priority -- and something that won't be easy at all against Chapel Hill's defensive front -- Carthage's offensive line must prevent Chapel Hill from hitting veteran quarterback Blake Bogenschutz, who has thrown for 327.5 yards per game so far this season.

Don't be surprised if: Both teams move the ball successfully most of the evening. Chapel Hill's front seven will be one of the best prepared to contain Carthage of any team head coach Scott Surratt's squad sees this year, but Carthage may be too potent offensively for that to matter.

On the other hand, Chapel Hill's uptempo spread offense has shown the ability to gash its first two opponents on the ground. That unit faces a relatively inexperienced Carthage defense that has yielded 417.5 yards per game in its first two contests.

Each team's linebackers will have a tough task matching up with the other team's backs and tight ends. Texas Tech-bound Joseph Clark, Chapel Hill's middle linebacker who will play in the secondary in college, joins Wesley Thompson and the rest of Chapel Hill's linebacker corps in facing a tough task matching up with Carthage's Tevin Pipkin, Bryian Bolton, and sophomore tight end Marquise Guinn, a 6-foot-4 target in the passing game. Carthage linebackers James Marshall, D'vodney Brooks, and Tra Leary will have their hands full with Clark, Thompson, Jesse Mumphrey, and Chapel Hill's horde of talented ball carriers.

Friday night's dogfight should be a really fun game for fans of both teams.