Mason McCarty continued to direct traffic on the field.
The Crawfordsville game against Lebanon on Friday evening at the Athenian complex was never in doubt as the visiting Tigers cruised 56-7. However, CHS’ junior quarterback and teammates never stopped playing, a trait coach Brad Clark finds favorable in adversity.
“I think we have good kids that play hard,” Clark said. “They’ve really bought into this offensive identity and old school mentality of running between the tackles, direct snaps and some of that stuff. They believe in us as coaches so I’m proud of them.”
Lebanon scored all six times the offense had the ball in the first half. The Tigers added scores by special teams on a 66-yard punt return and the defense on a 5-yard fumble return. The visitors were up 56-7 at intermission.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge. They’re dynamic. They can score from anywhere. We thought we might play a little bit better. That part of it is disappointing, the missed snaps, miscues and things like that we need to clean up to get better.”
While the season highlight reel shows a lot of senior to senior through the air, Jackson Folden to Kaden Lark, running back Josh Parks stole the show Friday. He carried nine times for 127 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. The balanced Lebanon offense amassed 370 total yards with 220 on the ground.
CHS had a couple chances in the opening half, but came up empty. The offense did get the big play in the fourth quarter on a 44-yard sideline run by junior quarterback Mason McCarty. That was the only score of the second half with the running clock.
“We thought we could move the ball a little bit and keep their offense off the field,” Clark said. “We just have to eliminate the things that put us behind the chains.”
Senior running back Braedon Hites ran hard, but a tough Lebanon defense had his number. He did gain 35 yards on 13 carries. The home team ended with 111 total yards, 84 on the ground.
CHS also played without senior defensive lineman and second leading tackler Keegan Cokel, who injured a hand late in the week during practice. “It’s kind of difficult when you lose a kid of that caliber. You kind of have to shuffle there when you’re scrambling to replace a starter. I thought our guys fought admirably and played hard with a lot of them going both ways.”
Clark is confident his team will shake this off and prepare for its final home game this Friday against Tri-West.
“Our kids have been really good at that, starting the week fresh, turning the page and not letting things linger. Our kids have a lot of mental toughness and the ability to overcome adversity. They will be ready.”
