Led by wing back Jarvis Terrell’s 240-yard night, the Trojans (7-3, 6-1 Region 5-AAAA) rolled to a win, getting touchdown sprints of 90 and 77 yards in the rout from the freshman standout.
“I think it develops some confidence in us to have a kid like Jarvis Terrell have a big night. A freshman now getting into his first playoffs, obviously his confidence is going to go up from there. Proud of him and the job he did. I think defensively we played really, really well. They have a good offense — exactly what you need to run the spread with speed at receiver — and we did a good job shutting them down,” Carrollton coach Rayvan Teague said.
Wasting no time offensively, the Trojans took the opening kick and drove 66 yards, with Wil Garrett’s three-yard run capping the seven-play drive for the early 7-0 lead.
Then, with the defense getting involved, Tyler Newsome connected on a 38-yard field goal following a Malik Sheppard interception.
A LaGrange punt pinned Carrollton on its own three-yard line on the next possession. One play after Trey Chivers 30-yard run was called back due to holding, Terrell went almost untouched up the middle 90 yards for the score.
On the first play of the second quarter, LaGrange (5-5, 4-3) struck back, getting a 65-yard pass play for a touchdown to make it 17-7.
Sheppard added the third Carrollton touchdown of the night, as he carried it in from three yards out.
After the Trojans turned it over on downs, the Grangers had a quick drive to get another score and make it 24-14. Carrollton responded, going 29 yards in 19 seconds to set up a 32-yard Newsome field goal as time expired for the 27-14 lead at halftime.
“Real proud of that last-second drive to kick the field goal. Probably the only mistake of the night, I decided to go for it on fourth down at midfield right before half and gave them a touchdown. We got three right before the half, but I don’t like trading seven for three,” Teague said.
The second half was all Trojans.
On LaGrange’s first drive, Garrett intercepted a pass to set up a 31-yard touchdown run from Chivers and Terrell added a 77-yard score midway through the third to round out the scoring.
Defensively, the Trojans allowed 298 yards, but only 25 on the ground and had two interceptions. Deion Webb led the way with five tackles, including a pair of sacks.
“This year we’ve combined a 3-4 and a 4-3, so we have quite a few options. It makes us a little bit better. Our defensive line does a good job with that — our defensive ends and linebackers. Our secondary coverage is good. We go to those 7-on-7 games and play all those games in the summer to get better on defense because everybody runs the spread these days,” Teague said.
Along with Terrell’s 240 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, Garrett (50 rushing yards), Sheppard (49 rushing yards) and Chivers (32 rushing yards) also had scores on the night. Garrett was also 8-of-11 passing for 108 yards, while Will Hesterlee completed 1-of-2 for 23 yards. Overall, the Carrollton offense went for 573 yards, with 441 coming on the ground.
Next up for the Trojans will be a first-round matchup against the No. 3 seed from Region 8 — most likely Stephens County (7-2) barring a pair of major upsets tonight — to open the Class AAAA state playoffs on Nov. 16 at Grisham Stadium.
“Stephens County, they’re hard-nosed, very well-coached and work extremely hard. They’re strong, and I think they’re more skilled than the last time we played them. I expect it to be quite a challenge. We’ll have to play well. They’re not your typical third seed,” Teague said.
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