Palestine 42 Carthage 31 (FINAL)

[texasjeremy]

'Cats go to 2-0, next up is @ 4A Henderson.

[zeke]

Congratulations to Palestine. I believe you have officially entered everybodies radar screen as the real deal. Keep up the good work!!!

[texasjeremy]

In the 1st half, both teams were scoring at will with the running game, it was 28-28 at the half. In the 2nd half, Palestine's depth wore the Carthage offense down and Palestine outscored them 14-3 in the 2nd half.

[zeke]

Looks like ya'll have a round robbin thing going. Last week Henderson and Carthage matched up...
Henderson 40 ... Carthage 37

[texasjeremy]

Palestine leaves Carthage in the doghouse

9-4-04
By Scott Tyler
H-P Sports Editor


It was an unusual feeling for the Palestine defense during the first half of Friday night's game against Carthage.

The Wildcats uncharacteristically gave up 28 points, but the Palestine offense picked up the slack and the defense came back strong in the second half to shut down the Bulldogs, giving Palestine a 42-31 win at Wildcat Stadium.

"The first half our offense stepped up and the second half it was our defense," Palestine head coach Glen Tunstall said. "This was the best team effort I have seen in Palestine in a long time."

The Palestine defense allowed 275 yards in the first half, 223 of those to running back Karlidarius Beechum, but because of the offense, Palestine went into the locker room tied at 28-all.

The defense came back on the field in the second half and looked to be its old self, allowing 43 yards and three first downs.


"At halftime we told them we had to step up and join the offense," Palestine defensive coordinator Booker Bowie said. "We made some alignment changes, but kept the same personnel and they played extremely harder."

Palestine (2-0) hurt itself with penalties and was forced to punt, but because of a bad snap, a quick punt only went 9 yards and Carthage returned it to the Palestine 22-yard line.

The Palestine defense held strong, stopping Carthage on the 8-yard line and the Bulldogs' Javier Saucedo punched in a 24-yard field goal to give Carthage a 31-28 lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

"That stop by our defense was probably the difference in the game," Tunstall said. "After the bad punt, to hold them to a field goal gave our offense a chance."

Penalties plagued Palestine again on the next drive as the Wildcats were forced to punt.

Carthage (0-2) got a break halfway through the fourth quarter when Palestine roughed the punter, giving the Bulldogs a first down. Two plays later Carthage fumbled the ball and Palestine recovered it and took it to the Carthage 48-yard line.

The Wildcats took full advantage of the turnover as Cameron Jones touched the ball four times for 46 yards, including a 32-yard run, and quarterback Fred Williams finished it off with a 2-yard keeper for a touchdown as Palestine took a 35-31 lead.

The defense shut down Carthage three-and-out on the next possession and with 4:47 left to play, Palestine took over and marched 68 yards down the field in three minutes with Williams scoring from 1 yard out to close the door on the Bulldogs.

During the drive, Williams had a 44-yard keeper off the option to set Palestine up inside the 10-yard line.

"All the credit goes to our offensive line," Williams said. "If it was not for our o-line, Cameron and I would not be able to do what we did."

Palestine rushed for 346 yards as Jones gained 156 yards and Williams had 102 yards.

"Cameron had an outstanding game and that is what we expect from him and he got a chance to shine tonight," Palestine offensive coordinator Tommy Allison said.

The first half was Beechum versus the Palestine offense.

On the opening play of the game, Beechum went 77 yards for the touchdown putting Carthage up quickly 7-0. Beechum finished with 244 yards on 18 carries.

Palestine responded with a seven-play drive capped by a 19-yard rush by Jones, who then scored from 12 yards out to tie the game.

"We gave what they took us," Tunstall said of Carthage's defense, which was playing in a deep zone, taking away the pass. Palestine ran the ball for 213 yards in the first half.

Beechum broke free again on Carthage's next possession, going for 60 yards.

The Wildcat offense responded in the first quarter with a 22-yard touchdown run by Trevlyn Reed to tie the game.

Palestine was able to take the lead, 21-14, in the second quarter when Leon Mickens, in the right corner of the end zone, made a one-handed catch over a defender who had his hands in Mickens' face, for a 7-yard touchdown catch.

"That was one of the finest catches you will see in a high school football game," Allison said. "Mickens is a great athlete and we feel confident when we throw it up there, he is going to catch it."

However the lead was short-lived as Beechum, on Carthage's first play, scored on a 70-yard romp. Beechum followed that run with a 9-yard score to give Carthage a 28-21 lead as Beechum scored all four touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

Palestine drove the ball down field in the final five minutes of the first half, but nearly stalled at the 20-yard line were the Wildcats were faced with a fourth-and-six situation.

With the blitz on, Williams found Jones in the flat and dumped the pass to the Wildcat running back who turned up field and got 10 yards and the first down.

After a Nigel Cooper 7-yard run, Jones scored from 3 yards out to tie the score at 28-all.

Palestine had a late chance to take a halftime lead when Carthage fumbled the kickoff, but with under five seconds to play, Williams' pass to the end zone was tipped and intercepted.

Notes: Palestine has opened the season with two wins for the fourth straight year. ...Palestine kicker Cason Davis hit all six of his extra-point attempts. ...Palestine struggled with penalties, coming 12 for 95 yards. ... The two teams combined for 566 yards of offense in the first half. ... Next week Palestine will travel to Henderson in a non-district contest. Carthage lost to Henderson 40-37 in the first week.