Carol City Rolls Over Norland
By Rudy Rodriguez-Chomat
September 13, 2003

A big time district match up next Friday against Central was looming in the back of their heads, but Carol City took care of the business at hand tonight dismantling Norland 34-18 before a crowd of 6,500 at Traz Powell Stadium.

Sophomore running back Terry Jones led the charge for the Chiefs on offense, rushing 17 times for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Chris Strothers added 6 carries for 64 yards and 1 touchdown as Carol City opened up a 34-0 lead going into the fourth quarter when they emptied their bench to give some younger players an opportunity to get some experience.

“We come to the game to win and when we get to the point where we feel we have the game won, we want to give our younger players an opportunity to get in there and get experience because we always have to think about the future,” Carol City head coach Walt Frazier said.

The Chiefs overcame a fumble on the opening kickoff when Denard Hall was stripped and Richard Gordon recovered it at the Carol City 31-yard line.

After getting to the Chiefs 7-yard line, Norland quarterback Martin Decembert, who was 17-34 for 296 yards and two touchdowns, threw two incomplete passes. That was followed by a missed 24-yard field goal attempt.

The onslaught by the Chiefs began.

Carol City took possession at the 20-yard line and marched it 80 yards in 6 plays, capped by a 25-yard touchdown run by Strothers for a 7-0 lead. It was Strothers first real action this season as he played sparingly due to an injured hamstring in the opener against Jackson.

“I’m so hungry right now,” Strothers said. “I have to give all the credit to the offensive line and the coaches for calling the plays. I am just so ready right now.”

It was keyed by a fake punt that was not called from the sidelines, as upback Kevin Wilson saw that flyer James Gibson was uncovered. He took the snap and passed it to Wilson for a 20-yard gain.

“That wasn’t called by us,” Frazier said. “The kids recognized it and made a great play.”

Late in the first quarter the lead jumped to 13-0 after Kenneth Phillips, playing centerfield, intercepted a Decembert pass at the 43-yard line returning it for a touchdown untouched. The extra point was blocked.

Carol City played ball-control again late in the second quarter grinding out a 12-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard run by Jones for a 19-0 lead.

The Chiefs defense continued to make life miserable for Decembert in the first half, led by Vernon Wilder, Maurice Peterson and Anthony Wright forcing Decembert to fumble a snap at his own 33-yard line that was recovered by Emmanuel Maxime.

On the ensuing possession, they added a 29-yard field goal to go into the half up 22-0. It was smooth sailing from there.

“Our defense played exceptionally well,” Frazier said. “They played zero football, giving up no points. Norland was able to get some points in the fourth, but our defense was exceptional.”

Carol City needed no help getting up for this game, but Norland helped them according to Strothers.

“When we got here, we saw that Norland had painted in the back of the endzone Norland Vikings State Champs,” Strothers said. “That really got us jacked up.”

With Central looming next week in a key district battle, the Chiefs definitely want to pound the Rockets.

“We try to look at every game as if it’s the state championship,” Strothers said. “But this game against Central is definitely revenge. We want to beat them real bad from what happened last year when they tried to run it up on us.”

Picture 1: Norland's Martin Decembert letting it fly. He blew up for 296 yards passing, but it wasn't enough.
Picture 2: Carol City's Terry Jones toting the rock.
Picture 3: Jones being tackled by Norland defender.