Blue Dons staying on the comeback trail
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WEIRTON -- Madonna head coach Darrin Hicks scratched his head after his Blue Dons made their second-straight second-half comeback in a 32-26 win over Carrick and said he has to find a way for the Blue Dons to get off the bus and start playing early.
For the second straight game, the Blue Dons struck in the second half, this time coming from a 20-point deficit in the home opener.
"Sometimes, you have to bring your own guts, and we did," said the fourth-year coach. "We had some adversity in the first half just like we did against Bridgeport but we were fortunate to be able to be in a situation at the end of the game to win."
The Blue Dons had a similar situation a week earlier at Bridgeport, and Hicks felt that may have helped in this win.
"I think that being able to come back from adversity in week one helped us this week," he said. "There was never a moment of doubt. There was never any panic come out from the coaches or the players. I thought the kids were very positive on the sidelines and were very tuned in to the game. Definitely, we've got a lot of fight. Our guys want to do that. We just have to learn to start a little bit faster."
That was a sentiment echoed by Madonna sophomore quarterback Santino Arlia, who is in his first season as the full-time signal caller.
"In Bridgeport, we did the same thing," said the sophomore, who completed 15 of 26 passes for 150 yards and two scores Friday. "In the locker room (at halftime), we all said we got them on their backs. Let's go out, score a touchdown and win the game. Let's go.
"We were trying the whole game to wear them down. We were trying to beat them off the ball, and that's how we won this game."
The Madonna defense early on seemed unable to stop the lightning quick Raider offense. Carrick marched from midfield where they fell on Angelo Quattrochi's squib kick to score in 10 plays. It culminated in a 12-yard touchdown scamper around the right side by senior E. J. Williams. A run for the two-point conversion failed and, less than four minutes into the game, the Raiders owned a 6-0 lead. Williams was the leading ground gainer in the game with 136 yards on nine carries.
Later in the opening stanza, Arlia threw the first of three interceptions in his own territory by Carrick's VaShawn Howard. Howard fumbled the ball on his return, but Williams was there to fall on it, and the Raiders set up for another scoring drive at the Blue Don 35.
Four plays later, sophomore quarterback Tay'Ron Ross found the end zone from 6 yards out. Again, the try for two points was stopped by the Madonna defense, but the Raiders held a 12-0 lead going into the second quarter. Ross gained 123 yards on the ground with 21 carries, and he tallied three of Carrick's four touchdowns.
Carrick struck again with 2:20 left before halftime. Williams twisted out of a couple of tackles and sprinted 81 yards to the Madonna 1-yard line before being caught by Blue Don senior Brennan Secrist. Ross took the pigskin to paydirt on the next play and then ran it in for the two-pointer to arm the Raiders with a 20-0 lead.
The Madonna defense stepped up to stop a Carrick bid for a first down at the Madonna 46 to set up the first Blue Don score, as time was running out in the second quarter. After senior Roman Baird pounded his way on runs of 5 and 12 yards, Arlia hit Secrist in stride on a fly pattern down the left sideline, a 33-yard pass and run that came just five seconds before the intermission. A pass for the two points failed, so Carrick held a lead 20-6 halftime advantage.
By the time the first half ended, Carrick had already amassed 125 yards with 14 penalties and finished the game with an unusual amount of infractions (23) for a total of 215 yards.
"We sensed that Carrick may have been getting worn down, and perhaps that was a factor that benefited us in the second half," Hicks said.
Hicks added that he and his staff made some adjustments with spacing for the defensive line, and that also was a factor in the comeback.
Madonna sophomore Coleton Littleton returned the second half kickoff from his own 23 to the 45, where a Carrick penalty added another 15 to the Raider 40. Ten plays later, Arlia found Secrist again for a score on a fourth-down play. This one covered 10 yards. When the pass for the two-pointer failed, the Blue Dons were back in the game trailing 20-12.
Secrist, who caught nine passes for 99 yards and the two touchdowns, also was instrumental on defense. He alertly pounced on a Williams fumble to stop a Raider drive at the Madonna 34, and it set up a game-tying touchdown to boot.
It took the Blue Dons 13 plays to cover the 66 yards capped when senior Antonio Daddario blasted into the end zone from the 2. Arlia found his favorite target, the 6-foot-3 Secrist, for the two-pointer that knotted the score at 20 with 1:56 left on the third-period clock.
The Raiders, indeed, appeared to be gassed, as the Blue Dons stopped them on fourth down at their own 30 and marched down the field in six plays, with Baird going through a big hole on the right side from the 5 to put his Blue Dons in the lead for the first time at 26-20.
Junior Jacob Bonner intercepted a Ross pass at the Carrick 15, but fumbled the ball. Again, it was the alert Secrist who scooped up the pigskin and raced to the end zone to put the Blue Dons in command, 32-20, with 1:52 left in the game.
The Raiders tacked on a final score when Ross broke several tackles and raced 35 yards to the end zone with 46 seconds left. The Blue Dons covered an onside kickoff at their own 45 and Arlia took a knee to run the clock.
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Madonna: Travels to Strasburg on Friday.
Madonna 32, Carrick 26
Carrick 12-8-0-6 -- 26
Madonna 0-6-14-12 -- 32
C: Williams 12 run (run failed)
C: Ross 6 run (run failed)
C: Ross 1 run (Ross run)
M: Secrist 37 pass from Arlia (pass failed)
M: Secrist 10 pass from Arlia (pass failed)
M: Daddario 2 run (Secrist pass from Arlia)
M: Baird 5 run (kick failed)
M: Secrist 15 fumble recovery (Pass failed)
C: Ross 35 run (pass failed)
RUSHING: Carrick 37-292-4td (Williams 9-136, Howard 4-21, Ketter 2-12, Moore 1-0, Ross 211-123-3td). Madonna 34-102-1td (Baird 22-84-1td, Sessi 3-0, Daddario 1-2-1td, Arlia 8-16.
PASSING: Carrick 8-16-53-1int (all by Ross); Madonna 15-27 150-3int-2td (Arlia 15-26-150-3int-2td, Secrist 0-1).
RECEIVING: Carrick (Williams 3-33, Massenberg 3-17, Ketter 2-5); Madonna (Secrist 9-99-2td, Sessi 3-25, Baird 1-9, Thompson 2-17.
FIRST DOWNS: Carrick 10; Madonna 11.
FUMBLES-LOST: Carrick 3-2; Madonna 3-0.
PENALTIES: Carrick 23-215; Madonna 4-30.