Carver-Montgomery dominates Wetumpka
Carver-Montgomery delivered a dominating performance Friday and earned a 33-13 road victory over Wetumpka at Hohenburg Field.
The Wolverines (6-1 overall, 4-0 in Class 6A, Region 2) overwhelmed the Indians with their speed and dominant defensive line, which features five-star prospects James Smith and Jaquavious Russaw, who will likely go to the same college as a package deal.
While Carver’s defense held Wetumpka to 89 yards of total offense and four first downs through three quarters, quarterback Christian Johnson and receiver Marquan Jamerson were throwing ribbons around their own package deal.
Johnson finished 13-of-22 passing for 209 yards and four touchdowns, three to Jamerson, who caught eight passes for 112 yards and seemingly got open whenever he wanted.
“We knew this was a big opponent and we wanted to prove ourselves,” Carver coach Marcus Gardner said. “We had to come take care of business. We wanted to come out and play fast. … I hope we can keep up this tempo.”
Looking ahead: Gardner didn’t hesitate when asked if he thinks his team can go beyond the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
“If we stay healthy, our goal is a state championship,” said Gardner, whose team’s only loss was a 42-36 road loss at Catholic-Baton Rouge (La.) last week in which Johnson threw five scoring passes.
“We should have won that game,” Gardner said.
Jamerson said the Wolverines, who stayed atop the region standings with the victory, have extra motivation to put the first Blue Map in the school’s trophy case.
“We’re from the west side and a lot of people don’t want to see us win,” Jamerson said.
Stat sheet: Jamerson was targeted on half of Johnson’s passes — 11 times in all — and caught TD passes of 12, 8 and 35 yards, collecting a perfectly thrown ball in the end zone on the long one. … Johnson was 9-of-12 passing for 150 yards and three TDs in the second and third quarters. His 7-yard scoring pass to Channing Cargill made it 33-0 late in the third quarter. … Antonio Trone provided balance on the ground with 111 yards on 15 carries, including a 20-yard TD run in the second quarter to give the Wolverines a 20-0 halftime lead. … Wetumpka QB Nate Rogers was 12-of-22 passing but managed only 66 yards as the Wolverines clamped down on his receivers. … Wetumpka’s Tristan Bennett returned an interception 29 yards off backup quarterback Rodarien Wilkerson for a touchdown to finish the scoring.
They said it: “We knew if they came out in man, we knew what the plan was. We knew our guys were faster than theirs.” – Jamerson
“Once we knew they couldn’t run and couldn’t pass and started throwing screens, we knew it was over.” – Russaw
By the numbers: Carver outgained the Indians 391 yards to 142 and held Wetumpka to 76 yards rushing. … The Indians’ Logan Weighall averaged 42 yards on eight punts … The Wolverines drove 80, 48, 79, 69, 52 for their touchdowns. … Carver is 88-5 since 2000 when scoring 30 or more points.
What’s next? Carver plays Sidney Lanier on Oct. 14 while Wetumpka (6-2, 3-2) is off until Oct. 21, when it hosts the Poets.