CARROLL — For the first time since 2015, the Bloom-Carroll football team isn’t playing in the postseason, and while this season hasn’t gone as expected, the Bulldogs wanted to end the year on a winning note and they did exactly that on Friday, Oct. 23, against visiting Amanda-Clearcreek.
The Bulldogs entered the game with a 4-5 record, so they wanted to win not only to avoid a losing season, but to also send their seniors out the right way.
Bloom-Carroll jumped out to an early lead against the Aces, then relied on its defense to take a hard-fought 21-7 Mid-State League-Buckeye Division win at Carl Fell Stadium.
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The Bulldogs limited the Aces (3-7) to only 142 total yards. They recorded five sacks for minus 35 yards.
“I’ve been proud of our defensive unit all season,” Bloom-Carroll coach Steve Daulton said. “We have played some tough opponents, and even though we lost those games, our guys have been consistent, and guys have found ways to make plays, and it’s been different guys. Unfortunately, we’ve had to throw some young guys in there who have stepped up and gained a lot more experience than we would have thought this season.
“Tonight was a unique situation because this senior group knew when their last game was going to be, which wasn’t he case in the past. We wanted to do whatever we had to do, to allow the senior group to leave with a good taste in their mouth. The season didn’t go the way we wanted, but it was a great thing to let them go out on a positive note.”
Offensively, Bloom-Carroll was playing without senior standout running back Kyson Cline, who was forced to sit out with an injured ankle. Sophomore JuJu Ward stepped up big-time in his place by rushing for 152 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Junior quarterback Caiden Schooley was able to mix in the pass just enough to keep Amand-Clearcreek off balance. He completed 12 of 20 passes for 99 yards and rushed for 33 more yards and a touchdown on five carries.
Bloom-Carroll led 14-0 at halftime, thanks to a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs from Ward and Schooley.
The Aces cut the margin to 14-7 on the first play of the fourth quarter when sophomore quarterback Conrad Carpenter hit Carter Madison with a 5-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal.
Amanda-Clearcreek kept the momentum by forcing a turnover on Bloom-Carroll’s next drive, but the Bulldog defense stepped up and was able to get a turnover on downs in their own territory.
Bloom-Carroll then sealed the deal with an 8-play drive, all on the ground. Ward capped it off with another 1-yard touchdown run with 3:57 remaining.
Carpenter led the Aces’ offense by completing 18 of 31 passes for 141 yards under heavy pressure most of the game.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Bloom Carroll beats Amanda Clearcreek to end the year on a positive note