Mikes shut down Bulldogs in 18-0 win
Carmichaels’ defense limited Beth-Center to 119 total yards and Will Murray rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries as the host Mikes opened Class A Tri-County South Conference football play with an 18-0 win at Coaches Field on Friday night.
The Mikes scored one touchdown in the first, second and fourth quarters in improving to 1-0 in the TCS and 2-0 overall.
“Overall, I’m proud of the effort our players displayed,” Mikes coach Ryan Krull said. “We played pretty well defensively in terms of running to the football and tackling. We had some mistakes with special teams that need fixed.”
Carmichaels scored the only points it would need on the second play from scrimmage with Murray running for a 25-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead.
The score remained that way until Robbie Wilson-Jones broke free for a 30-yard touchdown run with 43 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Mikes a 12-0 halftime lead.
Beth-Center (0-1, 0-3) had a chance to cut the gap in half early in the fourth quarter when it drove to the Carmichaels 5-yard line. The Bulldogs were pushed back by a penalty before the Mikes’ Greg Kundly came up with an interception and 50-yard return into B-C territory.
Carmichaels then put the game away when Brandon Yekel turned a short pass from Cannon Bupka into a 40-yard touchdown with 8:42 remaining in the game.
“Offensively, we had too many mental and technique errors,” Krull said. “We’ll do our best to correct these issues and improve as a team.”
Bupka followed Murray with 64 rushing yards on 11 carries.
DeSean Whipkey led the Bulldogs with 10 carries for 64 yards rushing and Santino Revi added 44 yards on nine attempts.
Luke Amon had an interception and 19-yard return for B-C’s defense.