Carvers Bay back in position to win region title with win over Mullins

Region championships in football have been commonplace for much of Carvers Bay High’s existence, and the Bears are back at it.

After missing the playoffs in 2014 and losing in a first-round playoff game on the road last year, the Bears are back to being in position to win the Region VII-2A championship and earn the playoff perks that come with it.

Carvers Bay rallied from an early 16-point deficit to defeat Mullins 34-24 Friday night at Big Bear Stadium, and now has a week off to await results next week from its region foes that still have to make up a game missed because of Hurricane Matthew.

The Bears (7-3) finished the regular season 5-1 in the region and will at least tie for a region title, as Latta and Andrews also have one loss with one game remaining apiece.

The Bears would win a two-team tie with Andrews and believe they’d win a three-way tie on defensive points allowed in common games between the three teams, but lose a two-team tie with Latta based on last week’s loss to the Vikings.

“We kind of bounced back this year,” Carvers Bay coach Nate Thompson said. “Our kids are a little bit more resilient and are playing together a little harder. It kind of makes it feel good to be able to try to get the No. 1 seed.

“Our kids were young [last year] and didn’t understand how to win. I think this group knows how to win.”

The Bears trailed Mullins 16-0 less than 13 minutes into the game and still trailed the Auctioneers (3-6, 2-3) by 10 points midway through the third quarter.

But Carvers Bay scored the final 20 points, and sophomore quarterback Janaz Sumpter accounted for all five Bears touchdowns with four rushing scores and a passing TD.

He gained 111 yards rushing on 19 carries and completed 4 of 18 passes for 46 yards, including all three of his second-half passes for 42 yards and a TD. Levi White contributed 99 yards on 18 carries.

“I told them boys we’ve got to straighten up or we’re going to lose this game,” Sumpter said. “At halftime I told them we have to get focused. We didn’t put all this work in practice to come out here and lose. We had to win this game if we wanted a region championship.”

The Carvers Bay defensive line changed the tenor of the game, sacking Mullins quarterback Riyan Gore nine times, contributing to an interception with pressure and forcing a safety with pressure for an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone.

Byron Young, Daquan Carr, Manny Tatum and Dequarius Pressley all recorded sacks and consistently applied pressure.

“We came together as a team and we just stepped it up,” said Tatum, a junior defensive tackle. “Everybody was doing what they were supposed to do. The secondary was stopping them and that opened up us, the defensive line, to get in the backfield and do what we had to do, and the linebackers blitzing also helped us out.

“We came out kind of flat, but we came back together as a team and did what we had to do to get this win.”

The Bears’ key adjustment for the second half was having its defensive ends rush wide to force Gore to stay in the pocket or run inside. “

“The line did a great job. They came out in the second half, and they came to play,” Bears coach Nate Thompson said. “They decided to play, and we didn’t give up the big play anymore. We knew they were going for the big play.”

On the Auctioneers’ final nine plays accounting for their final three possessions, they didn’t gain more than 4 yards on any single play, lost yardage on four plays and gave up the safety.

“The defensive line was the difference. We didn’t have enough time to throw it,” said Mullins coach John Williams, whose team has scored at least 24 points in seven of its nine games. “We’ve got a pretty good offense. We’ve moved it pretty good on everybody this year.”

The Auctioneers drove 13 plays for the game’s opening score, a 34-yard touchdown pass from Gore to Xavier Legette, who was in triple coverage but caught the ball over defenders on a third-and-25 pass. Gore hit Jaylon Ritter down the middle for a 56-yard touchdown, and two-point conversions on the opening scores gave the Aucs their 16-0 lead.

Carvers Bay scored the final two TDs of the first half, Sumpter on a 1-yard run on fourth down following a Tyrik Reed 51-yard interception return to the Mullins 9, and Sumpter on an 11-yard run on a quarterback draw in shotgun formation. He deked a couple defenders in open space and dragged a couple others a few yards into the end zone.

Mullins extended its lead early in the third quarter on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Gore to Legette on fourth-and-10. Legette was standing on the left sideline in the end zone and the ball just cleared the outstretched arm of an approaching defensive back.

On all three Mullins touchdowns, defensive backs were in position to make a play on the ball but were unable to.

“Just bat the ball down,” Thompson said. “Don’t try to be the hero. I don’t care if your mom and dad don’t see you do an interception. How many times did we not bat the ball down, and that would have been it.”

Trailing 24-14, Dijion Goss beat one-on-one coverage down the left sideline and Sumpter found him near the goal line for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 3:40 left in the third quarter.

Pressure on Gore by Dequarius Pressley forced an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone for a safety late in the third quarter, and the Bears took a 28-24 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Sumpter. A late 2-yard Sumpter TD run iced the victory.

This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 12:44 AM with the headline "Carvers Bay back in position to win region title with win over Mullins."