Mikes continue to roll with 46-0 win over J-M
JEFFERSON — The Carmichaels offense has played several different styles in its last three games.
Two weeks ago, the Mighty Mikes shut out Mapletown 35-0, showing off its depth in the running game with 11 different rushers while rarely passing the ball. Last week, the offense narrowed the scope of runners — while also rarely passing — in the heavy rain against California, winning 33-17.
The team passed the ball 15 times en route to a 46-0 victory Friday night over Jefferson-Morgan in a Tri County South Conference match-up.
According to head coach Ryan Krull, the flexibility in the offense would not be possible without senior quarterback Jonathan Christopher.
“Any coach will tell you that the quarterback makes the thing go on offense. Now, that’s not to say that the offensive line, the backs and the receivers aren’t super important, but it starts with him. If it can’t start, it doesn’t matter how good you are everywhere else. I’m proud of the job he’s doing. He’s a guy who never has really taken a snap at quarterback in his life (before this season). He’s really taken it and run with it.”
After passing for two touchdowns two weeks ago and running for 64 yards on 16 carries last week, Christopher showed off his arm against the Rockets. The signal caller completed 10-of-15 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, while also gaining 58 yards and two scores with his legs on five carries.
“I believe everyone is equally important,” Christopher said. “But, I have noticed myself, and I’m going to go ahead and say it: I’m a playmaker. I do what our team needs me to do.”
Krull said Christopher, with his arm and his legs, helps keep the offense balanced.
“We just try to stay balanced,” Krull said. “I never think it’s a good idea to be one dimensional, so we thought we’d have some opportunities on the outside to get our guys the ball in space.”
Christopher and the Mighty Mikes offense came out of the gates firing, scoring on its first offensive play of the game. After a three-and-out and a 10-yard punt, the Mikes took over on the J-M 30-yard line. Christopher then hit sophomore wide receiver Garrett Ponick on a 30-yard deep pass to put the Mikes ahead 7-0.
“We liked the match-up with our guy, and Jonathan was spinning it pretty good in warm-ups,” Krull said. “We talked to him a little bit prior to, and we like to do things that make our quarterback comfortable. He was, so we gave him the green light.”
On Carmichaels’ next drive, senior wide receiver/running back Cody Brown scored from one yard out to make the score 13-0. Brown ended the day with four catches for 37 yards, five rushes for 28 yards and the score.
Jefferson-Morgan secured its first first down of the game on its next drive, but would later turn the ball over on downs.
The Mikes scored eight plays later on a Joey Minor 6-yard run with 11:51 remaining in the half. The score increased the Mikes’ lead to 20 points. The sophomore running back ended the night with 55 yards on eight carries and the touchdown.
A J-M ball carrier would fumble of the first play of the team’s following drive and the loose ball was recovered by junior Charles Lowry.
An 18-yard pass from Christopher to senior wide receiver Hunter Phillips put the Mighty Mikes on the J-M 2-yard line. Christopher would score his first of two rushing touchdowns on the next play – a 2-yard QB sneak – to give the Mikes a 27-0 lead.
Another J-M three-and-out gave the Mikes the ball, and a different Carmichaels player scored again, as senior running back Hunter Davis scored from five yards out. A failed two-point conversion put the score at 33-0 halfway through the second quarter.
The first half scoring concluded with a 2-yard rush from junior running back Brennen Pelzer to give the Mikes the 40-0 lead going into the locker room. Pelzer totaled 77 yards across nine carries and the score.
The last score of the game came on a Christopher 2-yard QB sneak, his second of the day, to give the Mikes the 46-0 lead.
The Mighty Mike defense held Jefferson-Morgan to 52 total yards in the game.
“It was playing fundamentally sound defense, rallying to the football,” Krull said. “I think at times we did a much better job at breaking down and surrounding the ball carrier and getting multiple white jerseys on the football.”
J-M head coach Aaron Giorgi cited the offense’s lack of execution and Carmichaels’ large defensive line as factors.
“We didn’t block very well and we didn’t hold onto the ball a couple of times there too,” Giorgi said. “You have to give Carmichaels credit. They’re a very disciplined team, and they’re pretty big up front, so they’re pretty hard to move and they’ve been giving a lot of teams some trouble. With our offensive struggles that we’ve had, it wasn’t a good matchup for us.”
Giorgi played several younger players in the game, namely junior quarterback David Morgan, who took about 40 percent of the snaps for the offense.
Friday’s game was a step back for the Rockets, Giorgi said, as the team scored 59 points and beat Avella two weeks ago and took Mapletown to overtime last week. Though, the loss does not knock the Rockets out of the playoffs
Jefferson-Morgan travels to California next week for a 7 p.m. kickoff, while Carmichaels plays the most of important game of its season, as the Mikes will host fellow undefeated conference foe Fort Cherry at 7 p.m.
Tri-County South Conference
Carmichaels 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽13-27-6-0 — 46
Jefferson-Morgan 聽 0-0-0-0 — 0
First Quarter
CARM: Garrett Ponick 30 pass from Jonathan Christopher (Hunter Davis kick), 10:32
CARM: Chad Brown 1 run (kick failed), 5:23
Second Quarter
CARM: Joey Minor 6 run (Davis kick), 11:51
CARM: Christopher 2 run (Davis kick), 10:11
CARM: Davis 5 run (pass failed), 7:32
CARM: Brennen Pelzer 2 run (Davis kick), 4:11
Third Quarter
CARM: Christopher 2 run (kick blocked), 8:15