Football: Sandwich rolls by Harper

Updated: November 5, 2011 8:33PM

Sandwich had no problem with Harper, taking down the hosts 28-6 Saturday in a Class 4A second round matchup at Gately Stadium.

The Indians took the open kick off and scored on a 12-play, 65-yard drive with Spencer Carlson going off tackle for 10 yards out. Harper came right back with a 40-yard touchdown reception to Lorenzo Herbert from quarterback Kewane Pipken, cutting the lead to 7-6 with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter.

A bad snap gave the Cardinals the ball on the 11-yard line of Sandwich, but the Indians’ defense rose to the challenge and stopped Harper on a fourth and goal from the 1-yard line.

A Sandwich fumble on its own 23 gave the ball back to Harper but the Cardinals did not capitalize. A key turning point in the game came with seven seconds remaining in the second quarter,

Sandwich was lined up to attempt a 40-yard field goal but the Cardinals elected to call a time out to ice the kicker. Sandwich then surprised them with a 24 yard touchdown pass to Seth McDonald from quarterback Derrick Risley who out fought two Harper defenders for the ball.

An interception by Mitch Brummel on the Harper 13 resulted in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Schroder from Risley and a 21-6 lead with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter. Carlson scored his second touchdown on a one yard dive with 9:26 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“The opportunities were there for us to take it and we didn’t cash in. Not scoring from the 1-yard line and the touchdown pass at the end of the half took a lot out of us,” said Harper coach Marris Carroll. “I am proud of the effort that we played with but this is one game that we know we had a chance to get.”

“It was just a gut feeling that made them go with the call,” said Sandwich coach Dusty Behringer. “When they called time out we could see that they were trying to go for the block. We wanted to do something to grab the momentum and I give a lot of credit to Seth for making that play. It was definitely a momentum swinger.

“Last year we handled them pretty easy and it seemed like they gave up towards the end,” said Carlson. “This year they came to play and didn’t stop until the last play. At half time we looked at each other and we knew we were in a game and we turned it up in the second half.”

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