Both sides of ball overwhelm Carson in running-clock-shortened contest
That’s more like it.
Reed’s offense averaged 36 points a game in its first two wins of the season over Clayton Valley Charter and Douglas, but the timing was off. The easy yards were no longer there for the taking. Three touchdown passes from running back Josiah Schmidt and a dominant defense bolstered the point per game average.
On Friday night, it looked easy.
The Raiders (3-0, 0-0) scored on their first five possessions and breezed to a 35-0 home win over Carson (1-2, 0-0) in a contest that featured running clock the final six minutes of the first half and the entire second half as a steady rain soaked the surface.
“Offensively, they hit their stride a little bit tonight,” Carson coach Blair Roman said. “They sputtered a little bit the first two games, I thought … They looked pretty good. They executed well.”
Senior quarterback Cam Emerson turned in his best performance of the young season, connecting on 9-of-10 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns. He did all of his damage in the first half, watching the second half from the sideline.
His end-around handoff Isaac McCoy for a one-yard touchdown put the Raiders up 35-0 with 5:57 left in the first half, enacting the new NIAA running-clock mercy rule.
“It (first two games) was kind of frustrating, but it all comes with a new system, new play caller,” Emerson said. “We have trust in our guys. It was definitely frustrating. It helps when our defense is making stops.”
Reed’s defense continued to prove why it’s one of the top units in the 4A North, holding the Senators and reigning Sierra League Player of the Year Abel Carter out of the end zone. Carson had less than 100 yards of offense in the first half before both teams emptied their benches in a scoreless second half that lasted just over 24 minutes of real time.
The Raiders stretched the Senators scoreless stretch to nine quarters without arguably their best player, defensive lineman Charles Tuavao.
“They didn’t even have their best player, maybe, in Charles. He’s a force. And they limited us pretty good,” Roman said. “They got a good ballclub, especially on the defensive side.”
Reed has now allowed just 28 total points through its first three games of the season.
Four different Raiders found the end zone in the win.
Tight end Grant Cotter took an Emerson pass 38 yards to the house less than two minutes in to start the scoring. He caught two passes for 58 yards. Jayden Scott’s 20-yard touchdown grab extended the lead to 22-0 with more than four minutes left in the first. He caught three passes for 71 yards. And McCoy’s dive capped the scoring. He also caught five passes for 48 yards.
Schmidt finished with a modest 57 yards on 11 carries, two of which ended in the end zone.
“We finally got our offense going. We were going back to our base stuff and just keeping it simple,” Emerson said. “We were getting huge holes. I mean, on one of the run plays to Josiah (Schmidt), I already had my hands up because I saw the hole. I knew he was getting in there. That was the biggest thing. We can’t rely on our defense every game.”
The schedule stiffens next week as Reed goes on the road for the first time this season to play Oak Ridge (3-0) in El Dorado Hills, Calif. The Raiders won last year’s meeting between the two schools at home, 55-34.
The Trojans have outscored their first three opponents 119-31 this season.