Barnesville Welcomes Gahanna Academy To Shamrock Stadium
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BARNESVILLE - A berth in the Ohio Division V, Region 19 semifinals is at stake Friday night when Barnesville (11-0) welcomes Columbus Gahanna Academy (10-1) to Shamrock Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7.
Playing at home this late in the season is a big bonus, according to Barnesville head coach Blake Allen.
"I believe playing at home is a huge advantage for us. I may be biased, but I think you would be hard-pressed to find a better crowd and atmosphere for a school our size than at Shamrock Stadium on Friday nights," the Barnesville alum and winningest coach in program history (51-22)," said. "Our town loves football and is extremely supportive and our student section shows up and brings the energy every week. Our players feed off of that. I expect another electric atmosphere this Friday night."
The Shamrocks enter the contest averaging an eye-popping 44.9 points and have scored at least 35 in every game. Defensively, they are giving up a miniscule 7.9 points and have posted four shutouts.
"I'm very pleased with the balance we have had on our offense all year. We have a lot of talented guys and we try to keep the defense guessing by getting them all involved and making teams have to defend the whole field on every play," Allen added. "We have been able to do this because our guys have bought in and are unselfish and do what is asked of them even when not getting the ball."
Junior quarterback Casey Carpenter has done a tremendous job in his first year under center. The southpaw has thrown a school single-season record 28 touchdowns while only being intercepted twice, with one of those coming on a hail mary pass at the end of the first half last week. He has also thrown for a single-season record of 2,134 yards. He also has three rushing touchdowns.
Tailback Taison Starr eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing milestone for the second straight season. The senior now has 1,039 and has scored 18 touchdowns. He is also a threat out of the backfield as he has caught 14 passes for 311 yards and six more TDs.
When Carpenter goes to the air, he usually finds seniors Luke Detling or Duker Castello. Detling has caught 44 passes for 674 yards and eight touchdowns. Castello has landed 33 for 792 and eight scores.
Defensively, the stingy Shamrocks are led by inside linebackers Starr and Hines Ford, the team's top tackler. Casey Carpenter and Logan Craker are the outside linebackers. The front line is anchored by Koby Jones and Marshall Meade at the ends. Blake Kirk and Braden Butler are the tackles.
The secondary is paced by Castello who picked off his program-record 11th pass last week. Cam Carpenter is the other corner with Detling the free safety.
"We tell our guys on defense all the time that during the week it is all about discipline and preparation, but on Friday nights a lot of times it just comes down to 'want to.' You have to lock in and want to execute your responsibility on every single snap and our guys have done that," Allen continued. "They play with tremendous effort and we are going to need that this week as it is the best, most athletic offense we have faced."
Placekicker Evan Lough has been consistent, booting 45 of 49 PATs and all three field goal attempts. He has 54 total points.
"We invest a lot of time on special teams and feel that has been a strength for us over the last few years, but the last couple of games it has been downright embarrassing, particularly the kickoff coverage," Allen admitted. "That 100 percent starts with me and the coaching staff. We have to do a better job of putting our kids in the right spots in those scenarios. We have spent a lot of time in practice on it this week and I expect to see an improvement."
Twelve of South Points 20 points last week came on a pair of 90-plus kickoff returns. The Shamrocks also had a tough time on PATs as a couple of snaps were mishandled.
On the other sideline, the Vikings are scoring at a 32.5 clip and have scored more than 40 points three times. On defense, they yield 11 points per outing and have logged one shutout. However, only three of their opponents finished with winning records, including Utica which they beat, 34-8, last week.
Columbus Gahanna Academy's lone loss came in week 10 at home against Columbus Bishop Ready, 28-7. The other winning opponent was Fort Loramie (6-5). The Vikings also defeated 5-5 Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (35-12), 1-9 Cardington-Lincoln (33-8), 3-7 Newark Catholic (40-0), 5-6 St, Charles (23-16), 1-9 Whitehall-Yearling (39-6), 4-7 Bexley (35-13), 4-7 Worthington Christian (42-6) and 5-6 Buckeye Valley (41-8).
"Columbus Academy is a very good football team. They are athletic, fast, disciplined and well-coached. You don't get to week 12 in the state of Ohio by accident, especially in this region," Allen noted. We know it won't be easy, but we are excited and looking forward to the challenge"