The Carthage Bulldogs have won eight Class 4A State Championships. This season, they are 7-0 and have allowed just 10 points per game scored against them. Remember the old saying in sports “defense wins championships?”. Well, that certainly applies here as the Bulldogs march on toward possibly yet another state championship.
The Carthage Defense
The Bulldogs have pitched one shutout and allowed single digits scored against them in two other games this season.
With one game left on the schedule (with Shepherd), the Carthage defense has racked up:
- 504 tackles
- 95 tackles for loss
- 31 sacks
- 133 QB Pressures
- 27 pass breakups
- 6 INTs
- 4 fumble recoveries
- 5 defensive touchdowns
Par for the course for Carthage teams, right? And, opposing quarterbacks have been running for their lives all season, based on the 31 sacks and 133 QB pressures mentioned above. That’s an average of 4 sacks and 19 QB pressures per game.
Carthage has met or exceeded that sack average in four games this season: Week 2 vs SA Cornerstone (8 sacks), Week 3 vs Gilmer (4 sacks), Week 5 vs Center (8 sacks), and last week vs Rusk (7 sacks).
Their production on a per-game basis looks like this: in addition to the 4 sacks and 19 QB pressures, they also make 72 tackles and 13 tackles for loss per game.
The Bulldog defense is loaded with great players, led by:
- Kip Lewis: 73 tackles, 4 sacks, 15 TFLs, 1 INT.
- Giancarlos Riascos: 61 tackles, 17 TFLs, 6 sacks.
- Camden Foster: 57 tackles, 10 TFLs, 1 INT, 1 fumble recovery, 1 sack.
- Bobby Cooks: 52 tackles, 11 TFLs, 3 sacks.
- Zy’Kerrian Tatum: 43 tackles, 17 TFLs, 1 INT, 6 sacks.
- Freddy Lynch: 41 tackles, 5 TFLs, 4 sacks.
- Je’Kerrick Johnson: 31 tackles, 13 TFLs, 3 sacks.
This Week’s Opponent
Tonight’s opponent is Madisonville (4-4). The Mustangs are essentially a one-dimensional team. They have passed for just 242 yards and 4 touchdowns, with three INTs. But they have rushed for 2086 yards and scored 23 rushing touchdowns. They are averaging 260 yards rushing per game.
Look for Carthage to stack the box and dare Madisonville to throw the ball.
Does Carthage hold Madisonville below their rushing average?
How many sacks does Carthage get in tonight’s game vs Madisonville?
Material and stats for this article were sourced from the Carthage coaching staff (Austin Hall).
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