The News Herald: Breaking news coverage for Southgate, MI.
By Jon Machota
After back-to-back losses, Carlson Coach Kent Sikora said teams were probably wondering if his Marauders would show up in the second half.
Carlson proved that they could Friday night.
The Marauders fell behind visiting Allen Park 6-0 early in the second quarter, but answered with a touchdown 10 minutes later and held on for a 7-6 victory.
“As ugly as it was, that’s a great football team and a storied program historically,” Sikora said of Allen Park, his alma mater. “We’re building things and we need wins like this … where we can scratch and claw things out.”
The backfield duo of Larry Frederick and Anthony Lewis pounded the Jaguars’ defensive line all night. Lewis ran for 101 yards on 18 carries and Frederick tallied 72 yards and a touchdown on 15 tries.
“I’ve been telling everybody who will listen, I think those two are two of the most talented athletes in the Downriver Area,” Sikora said. “I hope after this game that they’re going to start getting the recognition they deserve.”
Rotating carries between the two paid its biggest dividends with 5:23 remaining in the game. The Carlson defense forced Allen Park to punt on fourth and 22, which gave the Marauders good field position at their own 43-yard line.
Frederick and Lewis traded short gains to start the possession. Lewis then ran for 12-yards, only to be outdone by Frederick who recorded back-to-back 11-yard gains.
“We felt like this was a pivotal drive for our program,” Sikora said. “It was a drive that we needed to execute and we needed to pound it and we needed to show a little physicality.”
The carries not only milked the clock but also drained the Jags’ defensive energy.
Allen Park (3-1) opened the scoring on the first play of the second quarter. Adam Stromberg bounced a 17-yard carry to the outside, broke a tackle and carried a defender in for the score near the sideline.
The extra-point try went wide.
Stromberg was a handful in the first half. The senior carried 15 times for 92 yards during the opening 24 minutes.
It was much different the rest of the way, when he had only four carries for 14 yards and Allen Park managed just a pair of first downs.
“The problem is we’re not hitting any passes so (Carlson’s) bringing 9-10 guys up,” Allen Park Coach Tom Hoover said. “If we hit a couple passes our offense is clicking.
“We got beat blocking and tackling.”
Frederick evened the score less than two minutes before halftime when capped a 13-play drive by taking the handoff and dancing 13 yards up the middle for the score.
Kicker Justin Hunter gave the Marauders the lead for good when his extra point went through the center of the goalposts.
“We’ve been in this position two other games before this and we lost both of them,” Frederick said. “So we just came out determined.”
Carlson (2-2) weclomes Wyandotte on Friday while Allen Park plays host to Southgate.