MCDERMITT - For the second week in a row, the McDermitt High School football team had the opportunity to see how its stacks up with the top teams in the Division IV East.
A week ago the Bulldogs led Wells at halftime, before coming up short to the Leopards. This past Saturday, McDermitt was back on its home field to to take on perennial power Carlin. The Bulldogs held the Railroaders scoreless for the first 12 minutes, but Carlin pulled out a 22-8 win.
"I was very pleased with the effort," said MHS coach Richard Egan. "It was a complete turnaround from the second half against Wells. It was a total team effort. It was a lot of mental preparation for us and started in the locker room before the game. That was big for us. I thought our defense did a good job today. That is the fewest point we have Carlin to in a long time."
Both squads found it tough going in the first 12 minutes, with a combined three turnovers. Carlin also had one drive end on downs and McDermitt had a punt.
After getting the ball back after the Bulldogs' punt, the Railroaders held the ball for the last 3:51 of the first quarter on a 65-yard drive. Carlin used a bubble screen to keep the possession going on fourth down. The Railroaders used that screen with success on the day.
On the first play of the second quarter, Carlin quarterback Dennis Branning scored on a run from three yards out. Javas Leach added the 2-point conversion giving the Railroaders an 8-0 lead two seconds in to the second quarter.
Both offenses continued to sputter throughout the first half, with each team turning the ball over on downs.
Carlin added to its advantage with 1:31 left ion the half, with a 47-yards drive that took less than two minutes. Julian Mireles began the possession with a run to the McDermitt 17-yard line and a second screen pas led to a 1-yard run by Branning to put the Railroaders up 14-0 after the missed conversion. A lead they took to halftime.
After holding Carlin downs on the initial possession of the second half, McDermitt provided it best drive, which resulted in eight points. Sonny Crutcher kept the drive alive with a run inside the Carlin 10-yard line on fourth and five. Two plays later Frank Muratore scored from five yards out. Crutcher connected with Saul Lopez for the 2-point conversion to cut the deficit to 14-8 with 7:22 left in the third quarter.
"That was by far our best drive of the day," Egan said. "We had trouble getting going on offense all day. We tried a couple trick plays to see if we could get going. We had couple of penalties that came back to bite us. Anytime we got some momentum going, a mistake would stop us."
Carlin answered back with a drive that lasted over seven minutes that covered 53 yards. Leach capped off the possession with a 1-yard run with 1.2 seconds left in the third quarter. Austen Shurtz added the 2-point conversion to give the Railroaders a 22-8 lead.
McDermitt moved forward on the ensuing drive and were deep in Carlin territory when a pass play from Crutcher to TJ Smith was called back on a holding penalty. The drive stalled out from there and ended on downs. The was the final time both teams threatened to score.
"The bumps and bruises started to add up at the end," Egan said. "But, the guys hung in there and played through it."
McDermitt will be at home for the third week in a row on Friday, when Owyhee comes to town for a 2 p.m. kickoff.
"I think we are ready to do some good things, I am excited," Egan said. "We can play with the teams in our league and the guys know that, It is pretty even. If we can get a couple breaks here and there and keep the mistakes down they are games we can win."[[In-content Ad]]
