Pleasant Grove scored on every first-half possession in Friday’s Class 5A, Region 5 win over Carver-Birmingham.
Not to be outdone, the Spartans defense forced a three-and-out on every Rams possession and allowed just 23 yards in the first half en route to the 42-0 home win. The No. 4-ranked 5A Spartans won their fifth game in a row.
“We really wanted to go out and play clean football in all phases of the game,” Pleasant Grove coach Darrell LeBeaux said. “The defense has been playing with the lights off all season. We just have to prepare to play good football on both sides (of the ball) to have a chance of extending our season.
Game Star: Pleasant Grove quarterback Eric Handley capped the first two drives with touchdown passes for 39 yards to Clarence Taylor and 26 yards to Rashad Sager. He completed 9 of 11 passes for 148 yards.
More sheet music: The next three possessions ended in touchdown passes — a 4-yarder from Collin Moore, a 33-yarder from Derrick Davis Jr. and a 3-yarder from Aiden Hall — for a 35-0 halftime lead. Brian Hardwick scored on a 4-yard drive in the third quarter.
Coach language: “Eric handled the game really well and made a lot of adjustments on sight tonight. He’s really becoming a complete quarterback. – Le Beau
He said it : “It was a really great team win. Great first half achievement. We did what we had to do. We just have to keep growing and make sure we put everything in place. – Handley
Key stat: Carver had just three first downs, two of them due to Pleasant Grove penalties.
Stat sheet: Pleasant Grove ran for 162 yards on 23 carries and threw for 148 yards. … Carver finished with 48 total rushing yards – 6 passing and 42 rushing. … Carver had 55 penalty yards.
And after?: The Spartans play Jasper next week and a win will secure a home playoff in the first round. Carver will face Ramsay at home next week.
Comments are closed.