CARROLLTON - Carroll Academy's football team suffered through a tough night Friday, losing at home 27-6 against Deer Creek and losing two quarterbacks to injuries.
The loss drops the Rebels to 0-4 on the season and is the school's 20th loss in a row overall. The visiting Warriors improved their record to 3-1.
Carroll quarterback Derek Purnell suffered a concussion and might be out for the year, coach John David Higginbotham said. Randall Clark also left the game with bruised ribs. The job eventually fell to Colby Mitchell, who fortunately had taken some snaps at quarterback in practice this week.
Those setbacks come as the team enters a rough part of its schedule, with road games against Clarksdale Lee and Canton coming up next.
"I keep encouraging our kids not to quit and to try and get better every game," Higginbotham said.
Deer Creek opened Friday's scoring with a first-quarter drive that started near midfield. An 8-yard run by Harrison Peyton and a 16-yard run by Steven Conley gave the Warriors a first down on the Carroll 27. They moved to the 1 on a reception by Martin Frankel, and Peyton scored on the next play. The kick gave Deer Creek a 7-0 lead.
The Warriors threatened again in the second quarter, advancing to the Carroll 3-yard line, but Carroll's defense stopped two runs for losses and another for no gain. Frankel was forced to try a 15-yard field goal, which he missed.
Carroll used the momentum from that to set up its only score of the night. On first down on the Rebels' 31, Purnell outran Deer Creek's defense for a 69-yard touchdown. The kick tied the score at 7, where it remained at the half.
But Deer Creek added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to extend the lead to 19-7.
The first score came on a 15-yard reception by Turner Holland at the 6:19 mark. The second drive of that quarter was set up by a Carroll fumble near midfield. The Rebels' defense stuffed a couple of runs in their territory but then were called for offsides penalties on two successive fourth-down plays. Two plays later, Deer Creek reached the end zone on a 15-yard reception by Holland.
The Rebels' offense never threatened after that. Deer Creek completed the scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run by Frankel with 4:31 left.
Carroll finished with 150 yards of total offense. Purnell led the rushing attack with 101 yards on nine carries.
Nick Rone led the defense with seven tackles, two assists and one fumble recovery. Jinx Smith added six tackles and one assist.
Deer Creek recorded 343 yards of total offense - 261 rushing and 82 receiving. Frankel led with 159 rushing yards on 22 carries.
Higginbotham said the Rebels' line played well in spots, and he was pleased that the defense got some stops close to to the goal line. It's a unified team, and the players work hard in practice, he said.
"We've just got to put everything together," he said. "We haven't done that yet."
