CARROLLTON - Carroll Academy had no answer for East Rankin's option attack.
The Patriots ran for 277 yards en route to a 31-21 victory over Carroll here Friday night.
"We couldn't stop them. They punted only three times the whole game," Carroll coach Tony Banks said. "We got out-played and out-coached."
It was the first loss of the season for Carroll, which falls to 2-1. East Rankin improves to 2-1.
The two teams batted to a 14-14 halftime tie, but the Patriots opened the second half with a 49-yard touchdown drive that took less than two minutes.
East Rankin went up 28-14 with 8:18 left in the contest with a three-play, 44-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 9-yard run by Kevin Stevens, who finished with a game-high 140 rushing yards.
Carroll came right back with a five-play, 59-yard touchdown drive to cut the Patriots' lead to 28-21 with 61/2 minutes remaining. Quarterback Taylor Mullins hit Chris Wilson with a 4-yard scoring strike. The two also hooked up for a 19-yard pass earlier in the drive, which was also sparked by a 30-yard reception by Lance McDaniel.
But East Rankin put the game away with 2:36 remaining on a 35-yard field goal.
"East Rankin was just a better team than we are. We've got to find a way to get more aggressive, especially on defense," Banks said.
East Rankin outgained Carroll 445-308 in total offense.
"Offensively, we had an adequate game, but it wasn't enough because we couldn't stop them," Banks said.
Senior Eric Matthews led CA's ground attack, accounting for 78 of the team's 182 rushing yards.
Senior Michael Raby, who went over a 100 yards in Carroll's first two games, added 46 yards on eight carries, and McDaniel had seven rushes for 44 yards.
Mullins completed 6 of 11 for 126 yards.
East Rankin went up 7-0 on its first possession on a 1-yard run by quarterback Jacob Massey.
Carroll tied the game at 7-all late in the first quarter with a 7-yard run by Raby.
The Patriots came right back with an 11-play, 69-yard TD drive, capped by a 3-yard run by Stevens.
The Rebels then tied the contest at 14-14 with 40 seconds left in the first half with an impressive 11-play, 93-yard drive, which was finished off with a 30-yard pass from Mullins to Jay Ricks.
Next, Carroll hosts District 1-AA foe North Delta.
