Mikes blank Mapletown, 35-0
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地 Carmichaels鈥� Cody Brown (14) leaps over Mapletown鈥檚 fallen Brandon Donley (4) in the Mikes鈥� 35-0 Tri-County South Conference rout of the Maples on Friday night.
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Carmichaels鈥� Dylan Wilson carries the ball after recovering a Mapletown fumble in the Mikes鈥� 35-0 victory in Tri-County South action on Sept. 30. The Mikes host Fort Cherry tonight in a game that will decide first place in the conference.
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地 Carmichaels players raise their helmets to celebrate a 35-0 win over Mapletown Friday night after shaving their heads earlier in the afternoon to support 10-year-old Braedyn Wasko, who is battling cancer. While most teams usually depend on one or two players for the bulk of their scoring, the Mikes got points from seven different players against the Maples.
Carmichaels' Dylan Wilson (27) carries in the ball into the end for a receiving touchdown in the Mighty Mikes' 35-0 win over Mapletown on Friday night.
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Mapletown鈥檚 Dylan Rush (9) finds very little room to run against Carmichaels鈥� Jacob Turner (78) and the Mikes defense during their Tri-County South Conference game at Carmichaels, Sept. 30. The Mikes kept Rush, the leading scorer in the area, out of the end zone in earning a 35-0 win. Carmichaels defense will face an even stiffer test tonight when they host unbeaten Fort Cherry in a game that will decide the conference champion. (Photo by Kelly Tunney)
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Mapletown鈥檚 Gavin Uphold (31) leads the way for Dylan Rush (9) as he carries the ball for the Maples in their 35-0 loss to the Carmichaels Mighty Mikes on Friday night.
Carmichaels' Cody Brown (14) leaps to catch a 2-point conversion on Friday night to help the Mighty Mikes toward their 35-0 victory against the Mapletown Maples on Friday night.
CARMICHAELS 鈥� Before the start of the Tri-County South Conference match-up between Carmichaels and Mapletown, the captains for the Mighty Mikes went out for the coin toss without their helmets. They wanted everybody to see their bald heads.
Earlier in the day, all 41 members of the Carmichaels football team, as well as several coaches and community members, shaved their heads in support of a local 10-year-old with cancer at a fundraiser held at the same place the Mikes would defeat the Maples later that day.
Three days before his 10th birthday, Braedyn Wasko was diagnosed with Ewing鈥檚 Sarcoma, a cancer that accounts for one percent of childhood cancers. Braedyn鈥檚 mother, Carla Hughes, said her son was most worried about losing his hair from his chemotherapy treatments, which led to the fundraiser.
With shaved heads, Carmichaels (4-1, 4-0) defeated Mapletown 35-0, scoring all 35 points in the first half.
鈥淭he event today was really special to be a part of,鈥� said Carmichaels head coach Ryan Krull, who had his eyebrows shaved as well in support of Braedyn.
鈥淧roud would be the first word that comes to mind. Proud of Braedyn Wasko, the young man who is battling Ewing鈥檚 Sarcoma, with just the outlook he has in fighting this thing has taught us all something. I鈥檓 proud of our players as well. To have (our) guys to understand we鈥檙e doing something for a greater cause, it gives me chills.鈥�
At the fundraiser, sophomore offensive lineman Jacob Turner was emotional after the team shaved their heads.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just tough seeing that he鈥檚 10 years old and he has to go through this. He got dealt a bad hand,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 10 years old and he shouldn鈥檛 be going through this, so we鈥檙e all going to go through it with him.鈥�
Turner is a member of the large Carmichaels defensive line that helped hold junior Mapletown running back Dylan Rush under wraps, holding him to 98 yards on 25 carries on the night.
Rush came into the game 274 yards away from eclipsing 4,000 in his career, which is now down to 176 yards.
鈥淲e challenged our guys defensively,鈥� Krull said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a good back, and we communicated with them that we鈥檙e going to have to do certain things in order to contain him.鈥�
On the other side of the ball, Mapletown head coach George Messich said the size of Carmichaels鈥� offensive line is the reason the Mikes were able to run for 253 yards on 37 carries, with 218 of those yards coming in the first half.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e huge up front. And they鈥檙e not just big kids; they come off the ball, as a group, as hard as any anyone I鈥檝e seen in a long time,鈥� Messich said, whose Maples are 2-2 in the conference and 3-3 overall. 鈥淚t was such a mismatch size-wise, and I knew we were going to have a hard time stopping them, if we could stop them. Their size and power really showed off tonight.鈥�
The Mikes (4-0, 4-1) drove the ball downfield in six plays to start the game, scoring on a 3-yard run from junior running back to put Carmichaels ahead 7-0 not even three minutes into the game.
Four minutes later, the Mikes would increase their lead to 14 points when junior wide receiver Chad Ruse would score from nine yards out.
Another Mapletown three-and-out gave the ball back to the Carmichaels offensive quickly. On the first play of the next drive, senior quarterback Jonathan Christopher faked a screen and connected with senior wide receiver Garrett Ponick on a wide open deep pass for a 61-yard score.
鈥淲hen you go ahead and put eight guys in the box or nine guys in the box and you have matchups on the outside, man-to-man, we try to take advantage of that at times,鈥� Krull said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just been part of the gameplan from the get-go. We have opened it up a little bit more as the weeks have gone on, and hopefully we can do that in the future.鈥�
With 17 seconds left in the first quarter, sophomore running back Joey Minor scored from 19 yards out to put the Mikes ahead 27-0. Minor, the starting tailback for the Mikes with junior Nick Mundell out with an injury, ran for 122 yards on 11 carries.
鈥淲e call Joey 鈥楥razy Legs.鈥� He gets those legs going,鈥� Krull said. 鈥淪ometimes he鈥檚 not as patient as we want him to be, but I thought he did a good job. He runs hard; he finishes runs, and he generally falls forward to get that extra yard. I鈥檓 proud of the way he鈥檚 running the football.鈥�
In the second quarter, Christopher connected with freshman wide receiver Dylan Wilson from 18 yards out. A two-point conversion pass from Christopher to senior wide receiver Cody Brown put the Mikes ahead 35-0.
Messich said Carmichaels proved to be 鈥渢he top team in the conference鈥� in his mind.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very good football team, and I think they can do well the rest of this regular season and I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised to see them win a game or two in the playoffs.鈥�
Mapletown hosts Jefferson-Morgan next week, while Carmichaels welcomes California. Both games are set to start at 7 p.m.
Tri-County South Conference
Mapletown 聽 聽 0-0-0-0 鈥� 0
Carmichaels 27-8-0-0 鈥� 35
First Quarter
CAR: Brennen Pelzer 3 run (Hunter Davis kick), 9:33
CAR: Chad Ruse 9 run (Davis kick), 5:38
CAR: Garrett Ponick 61 pass from Jonathan Christopher (kick failed), 3:51
CAR: Joey Minor 19 run (Davis kick), 0:17
Second Quarter
CAR: Dylan Wilson 18 pass from Christopher (Cody Brown pass from Christopher), 1:23