Carroll stays undefeated by routing Emporia

BY JONATHAN LONG/The Wichita Eagle

Published Nov. 14 at 2:53 a.m. | Last updated Nov. 28 at 3:56 p.m.

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Blake Bell did his talking Friday night without moving his lips.

Bell responded to a newspaper comment made by an Emporia co-defensive coordinator by accounting for 317 yards of offense as the host Eagles won 42-6.

Carroll (11-0) will face Hutchinson (11-0) in the Class 5A semifinals next Friday in Hutchinson.

In Wednesday’s Emporia Gazette, coordinator P.J. Marstall said that Bell’s passing was “comparable — not as good, but comparable,” to that of McPherson quarterback Joel Piper. Emporia upset McPherson last week.

Bell set out to change Marstall’s opinion. Bell, who has orally committed to play at Oklahoma, completed 15 of 22 passes for 215 yards and two scores, with only two attempts in the second half.

“The coaches put it up on the board. We wanted to let our play do the talking,” Bell said. “We let the scoreboard shut them up.”

Bell and the Carroll offense spoke loudly. The Eagles scored on 6 of 9 possessions, punting once. Carroll used a balanced attack en route to 472 yards — 257 rushing, 215 passing.

“It’s pick your poison,” Carroll coach Alan Schuckman said. “If you try to stop the run, we’ll throw it, and if you try to stop the pass, we can run it.”

While Carroll’s offense was dominating, its defense made sure it had plenty of chances. Four of Emporia’s five first-half drives ended in punts.

Emporia’s Mark Kolmer finished with 92 rushing yards on 16 carries.

“We couldn’t block them,” Emporia coach Bill Lowe said. “We didn’t have any rhythm.”

Trailing 21-0, Emporia scored its only touchdown. Carroll knew that they couldn’t get complacent as Emporia trailed McPherson 20-0 before scoring 21 straight points in the second quarter of that game.

Carroll spent the second half establishing its run game behind Bell and Blake Rollins. Rollins scored two of his three touchdowns in the second half, finishing the night with 111 yards on 13 carries. Bell added 102 rushing yards and one score.

“Whenever you are having that much success offensively, that means the offensive line played great,” Bell said. “We just have to keep it up.”

Emporia (8-3) 0 6 0 þ0 — þ6

Bishop Carroll (11-0) 14 7 7 14 — 42

BC—Bell 32 run (Straka kick)

BC—Rollins 6 run (Straka kick)

BC—Nance 21 pass from Bell (Straka kick)

E—Loucks 5 pass from Gentz (kick failed)

BC—Brittain 16 pass from Bell (Straka kick)

BC—Rollins 3 run (Straka kick)

BC—Rollins 41 run (Straka kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing—Emporia, Kolmer 16-92, Gentz 14-54, Loucks 6-29, Lindquist 2-3. Carroll, Rollins 13-111, Bell 15-102, Weber 5-31.

Passing—Emporia, Gentz 7-12-74-1, Loucks 0-1-0. Carroll, Bell 15-22-215.

Receiving—Emporia, Childs 2-31, Lindquist 2-21, Kolmer 1-14, Loucks 2-8. Carroll, Crippen 5-64, Rollins 4-39, Brittain 2-30, Weber 1-40, Nance 1-21, Mies 1-5.