Carroll’s gridlock in green

MAIZE — When Maize football coach Gary Guzman watches the video from Friday’s 69-7 loss to Bishop Carroll, he won’t be surprised to see more than 11 Carroll defenders on the field.

“I think they had extra guys out there,” Guzman said, laughing as he shook his head. “That’s what it looked like sometimes — ‘Man, they’re playing with 13, 14.’ No, but again, they’re fast and they’re physical.”

Carroll’s defensive starters held Maize to 29 first-half yards. Maize finished with 152 yards. Carroll (7-0) forced two fumbles.

The Eagles, ranked No. 2 overall, are 1-0 in Class 5A-District 7. Carroll will play at Maize South (6-1, 1-0) next Friday, while Maize plays host to Valley Center (2-5, 0-1).

Carroll senior running back Denzel Goolsby, who has made a non-binding commitment to play at Kansas State, had 108 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns and a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown.

“I think our kids were really excited to play,” Carroll coach Alan Schuckman said. “Especially defensively. The type of offense they have, we felt like we’d be challenged.”

Maize senior quarterback Connor Lungwitz entered the game with 1,789 passing yards and threw for more than 400 yards twice. But against Carroll’s dominating defense, he finished 16 of 28 for 91 yards and was sacked three times.

He threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Alex Lee, but that came with 7:14 remaining, long after Carroll’s starters left the game.

“Our goal was to shut them down,” said Carroll senior Jarrett Johnson, who sacked Lungwitz for an 8-yard loss on Maize’s first series to set up a punt. “We knew if we did our jobs and covered our receivers, we knew we’d shut them down.

“Quick pressure on the quarterback from the defensive line, and our corners and safeties had to shut down the receivers.”

On Maize’s first play, Lungwitz looked to pass, but every receiver was smothered in coverage and failed to get open. He was constantly under pressure.

“We had a lot of blitzes this week,” Carroll senior Tommy Marquez said. “That was the main focus. They had a lot of time against other teams.”

Guzman added: “Connor hasn’t had that kind of pressure. We’ve been up against some good teams, but we haven’t had that kind of pressure. He’s had some good protection.”

Carroll quarterback Colton Howell and Goolsby understand the frustration Maize’s offense surely felt at being locked down.

“It’s a lot more fun watching them beat them up than beat us up in practice,” said Howell, who scored two touchdowns and ran for 115 yards, while completing 9 of 14 passes for 130 yards.

On Wednesday during practice, Carroll assistant Dusty Trail was furious with the offense’s inability to move the ball.

“Coach Trail … about fired our whole offense because we couldn’t get a first down in practice,” Schuckman said. “We couldn’t get a positive yard in practice.

“I had to remind him, ‘Coach, our defense is pretty good.’ I think every position, we are just very solid. A lot of good speed, fast and physical.”

Carroll, which has outscored opponents 394-51 and gained 2,838 yards, scored on all six possessions in the first half.

Carroll opened the second half with Goolsby’s punt return for a touchdown and then scored on the next three possessions. The only two series that Carroll failed to score on came late in the fourth quarter.

Credit Carroll’s offensive line with controlling the line of scrimmage.

One play before Howell scored Carroll’s third touchdown, Goolsby ran left. No hole existed as at least three Maize defenders were in his way. Goolsby slowed and the linemen came through, opening a huge seam and he gained 14 yards.

“Nobody else notices it,” Carroll offensive lineman Dan Garrison said. “The only thing fans see is Denzel running down the field.… After making that big block and seeing Denzel coasting into the end zone, it’s a fantastic feeling.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2014 at 12:50 AM with the headline "Carroll’s gridlock in green."