Sep. 4—PELHAM — Junior Alex Carroll joined in the fun Friday for the Pelham football team.
And crushing the opposition, as the Pythons did 48-6 over Stevens, can definitely be a lot of fun.
While Pelham was rolling to the Division 3 championship last year, outscoring opposition by a whopping 256-23 margin, Carroll was used almost entirely as a defensive back while serving as the backup quarterback to starter Jake Travis.
But, in Friday’s season opener, Carroll was in the offensive backfield as a running back and he responded with 25 yards on three carries and a 9-yard touchdown run. One play after the TD run, he gobbled up a Stevens fumble and — much to his delight — returned it 20 yards for another score.
“I love it (playing offense),” said Carroll, who was a running back as a freshman. “I missed it a lot last year watching all my friends scoring touchdowns. I love scoring touchdowns. I didn’t score any last year.”
Carroll also played some quarterback in the second quarter after Travis had already led the team to a 34-0 lead, and served as the Pythons’ punter.
Travis, who started at QB as a sophomore, got the team out fast, rushing for 19 yards on two carries on Pelham’s first possession, which Ethan Demmons (5 carries, 41 yards) finished off with a 7-yard TD run.
He completed the Pythons’ only passing attempt of the game on the next possession, a 29-yarder to Jake Cawthron, who made a nifty catch and — after Carroll’s two TDs — returned a punt 42 yards for a score.
Comparing this year’s offense to last year, when Jake Herrling led the running attack, Travis said: “We lost a couple of really good players, but I feel like we’re right on target like we were last year.”
Travis also added that “it’s nice to have him (Carroll) back there in the backfield.”
Pelham’s first team offense, which produced a 27-0 lead after the first quarter and 41-0 advantage at halftime, was basically unstoppable. It yielded to the backups for the second half.
Returning back and captain Kevin Bodenrader scored on runs of 19 and 32 yards and gained 51 yards on just three carries. Freshman Billy Nicolls had 38 yards on three carries including a 17-yarder to end the scoring and, in all, 13 Pythons carried the ball.
The Pelham defense, meanwhile, was no less impressive. Led by Noah Coppinger, Justin Roche and Josh Gravel up front, the Pythons didn’t give up one first down the entire game, limited (thanks to four sacks) Stevens to negitive-36 yards rushing and allowed only two pass completions.
The only blemish came in the third quarter when Stevens junior Kaden Thyne got behind the Pythons’ secondary and hauled in a bomb that resulted in an 84-yard touchdown.
But, by that time, there was a running clock and the outcome was a forgone conclusion.
Pelham 48, Stevens 6
Stevens (0-1): 0 0 6 0 — 6
Pelham (1-0): 27 14 0 7 — 48
First Quarter
P — Ethan Demmons 7 run (Antonio Furtado kick) 8:44
P — Alex Carroll 9 run (pass failed) 4{24
P — Carroll 20 fumble return (Furtado kick) 4:06
P — Jake Travis 42 punt return (Furtado kick) 3:23
Second Quarter
P — Kevin Bodenrader 19 run (Furtado kick) 11:17
P — Bodenrader 32 run (Furtado kick) 4:56
Third Quarter
S — Kaden Thyne 84 pass from Zack Bundy (pass failed) 4:07
Fourth Quarter
P — Billy Nicolls 17 run (Furtado kick) :55
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Pelham (31-204) — Ethan Demmons 5-41, Jake Travis 3-20, Kevin Bodenrader 3-51, Alex Carroll 3-25, Scott Paquette 2-9, Nick Muise 2-10, Justin Bowlin 1-8, Derek Muise 1-2, Billy Nicolls 3-38, Henry Paquette 1-5, Jake Ciulla 4-7, Sebastian Bahrakis 3-(-2); Stevens (16-minus 36) — Pascal Lemieux 3-(-2), Zack Bundy 4-(-44), Jai Lique Ribeiro 4-0, Hunter Christian 5-10
PASSING: P — Travis 1-1-0, 29; S — Bundy 2-8-0, 85
RECEIVING: P — Jake Cawthron 1-29; S — Kaden Thyne 1-84, Christian 1-1