Carver surges to first round romp over Bastrop, 50-24

NEW ORLEANS – Lining up for a playoff matchup as a 16-seed versus a 17-seed, Carver and Bastrop looked to be two closely matched squads.  Their first meeting, a 20-12 Carver victory to open the season, seemed to suggest the same.

In tonight’s rematch in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs, Carver had other ideas.

The 16^th seeded Rams followed the lead of seniors Izea Hurst (264 pass yards, 77 rush yards, and five total touchdowns) and Gary Young (156 total yards and 3 total TDs), scoring 28 points on four consecutive second-half drives to pull away from Bastrop, 50-24.

“Our kids came out and showed that we wanted it more,” Carver Coach Byron Addison said of the victory.  “We know the history of the Bastrop program, and we’re trying to get where they’ve been, to state.

“We’re just trying to get the train rolling.  We played well tonight,” Addison added.

Carver (7-3) took a 22-8 lead at half, largely on the strength of Hurst’s individual effort.  The Carver quarterback tossed two scoring passes to Young from 37 and 11 yards and ran in a third score himself from 11 yards out.  Then, as time wound down in the half, Hurst piloted a 66-yard march to a 32-yard field goal as the half ended.

Bastrop (5-5) rallied after the break, as quarterback Quaterius Hawkins trimmed the lead to 22-16 on a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a score.  But that was as close as Bastrop would get, as Carver reached the end zone on the next four possessions and forced two turnovers to put the game away.

After Randolph Armstead’s 29 yard run put Carver ahead 29-16, Carver’s Dorian Jefferson intercepted a pass from Hawkins.  That set up Hurst’s 42-yard strike to Keyon Clark to stretch the lead to 36-16.  Carver then stopped Bastrop on downs, leading to Young’s 58-yard touchdown run.  A failed end-around on the ensuing kickoff ended in a fumble recovered by Carver, paving the way for Hurst’s 2-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 50-16.

“The kids showed a lot of resilience tonight,” Addison said of the second-half surge.  “We told them all week you have to play 48 minutes.  It’s the playoffs.”

Bastrop’s Dezi Holmes tacked on a late touchdown on a 45-yard run to complete the scoring.

Next up for Carver is another rematch, this time with the top-seeded Karr Cougars.  Karr defeated the Rams 35-6 in Week 4.

Perhaps Carver will continue to find the rematch magic to stun their crosstown rivals.  Addison knows that will be difficult and summed up the challenge succinctly.

“Karr’s the state champion,” he said.