By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — After a near-miss at West Rowan and a breakthrough win at Concord, Carson’s football team was confident it could play with anyone in the South Piedmont Conference.

But the Cougars were proven wrong.

Northwest Cabarrus (7-1, 4-0) left no doubt about who the team to beat is in the SPC. The Trojans crushed Carson 48-0 on Friday, overwhelming the Cougars on both sides of the ball.

“There was nothing wrong with our effort,” Carson head coach Jonathan Lowe said. “But we couldn’t get anything rolling at all. Northwest is dang good.”

Northwest amassed more than 500 yards of offense, while holding Carson (2-5, 1-2) under 100 yards.

It was a thorough pummeling of a Carson team that had earned some respect in its previous two games.

“This was a game that was hyped, and we got beaten down,” Lowe said. “Frustrating night, and the responsibility starts with me. I’m not mad at our kids. They played hard, but nothing went our way.”

The Trojans’ defense didn’t budge against the running plays that worked so efficiently for Carson against Concord and the Trojans were able to ferociously pressure Carson QB Michael Guiton. The first half was an offensive nightmare for Carson — zero pass completions, 22 net rushing yards and zero first downs.

“We called every play on our call sheet trying to find something that worked,” Lowe said. “We’ve been able to find something every game, but tonight we didn’t. They stopped everything, and we couldn’t find an answer.”

Carson’s defense was able to bend without breaking for the first nine minutes, but Northwest quarterback Alex Walker escaped containment for a zig-zagging 43-yard run to the Carson 5 before flipping a touchdown pass to Cesidio Castrocone with 2:40 left in the first quarter.

Northwest made it 14-0 when a motoring Jemari Nored hauled in Walker’s second touchdown pass.

Walker’s third touchdown pass of the first half came on a swing pass that James Madison commit Tevin Tucker transported for a blistering, 65-yard touchdown and a 21-0 halftime lead.

At the break, Walker, a junior who is a three-year starter, had 15 completions and 247 passing yards thanks to receivers who were getting major yards after the catch.

Northwest’s MO has been to build a lead with a fast-paced passing attack and then finish opponents off with the ground game.

That happened again. Hard-charging back Ray Jay Waters got more touches in the second half and was productive. His two scoring runs in the third quarter pushed the visitors to a 35-0 lead.

Carson got its initial first down of the game in the third quarter when Guiton hit Emory Taylor for a 26-yard gain.

Carson found a bit of success through the air in the third quarter, but the Cougars rarely put back-to-back positive plays together.

“We’ve got really good receivers and we’ve got an outstanding offensive line and our previous games have shown that,” Lowe said. “But Northwest is very fast and very strong. Athletes at every level. Maybe people know about Walker and Tucker and Waters, but they’ve got so many other good players. Their linebackers were better than we expected. There were things we thought we could do against them, but we couldn’t.”

Northwest’s last two touchdowns came on fourth-quarter interceptions for pick-sixes by free safety Donovan Thompson.

When it was over, Lowe congratulated NWC coach Eric Morman, the former Catawba receiver, and told him his team was in first place for a reason.

Walker finished 19-for-29 passing for 331 yards and rushed for 50 yards. He threw one interception. Trevor Vaughn had the pick for the Cougars.

Northwest was superb on offense and defense, but experienced some struggles on special teams. Carson blocked three kicks and recovered two muffed punts.

Those blocks and recoveries meant opportunities to make it a ballgame, but the Cougars never could take advantage. They’d get the ball at the Northwest 40 and go three-and-out.

“Just never could get it going,” Lowe said. “Now we’ve got to regroup, try to win out, try to go 5-5, which Carson hasn’t done for a while, and try to make the playoffs. We might be out of the conference race, but a lot of our goals are still out there. We can still make it a special season.”

Carson lineman Bryson Bare and Taylor left the game with injuries, but Lowe was optimistic that they’ll be back in action for the stretch run.

Carson plays at East Rowan next week.

•••

NW Cabarrus   7    14    14   13   — 48

Carson              0     0      0     0  — 0

Scoring plays

1st

Castrocone 7 pass from Walker (Forrest kick)

2nd

Nored 26 pass from Walker (Forrest kick)

Tucker 65 pass from Walker (Forrest kick)

3rd

Waters 15 run (Forrest kick)

Waters 13 run (Forrest kick)

4th

Thompson 24 interception return (kick blocked)

Thompson 42 interception return (Forrest kick)

Individual

Rushing — NWC: Waters 14-73; Tucker 1-51; Walker 5-50. CAR: Galarza 12-35; M. Guida 2-10; McGruder 2-5; Guiton 7-(minus 22).

Passing — NWC: Walker 19-29-1, 331; Thompson 2-2-0, 9. CAR: Guiton 9-28-3, 68.

Receiving — NWC: Tucker 4-117-1; Norred 4-96; Castracone 4-62; Branham 4-22; Waters 3-21. CAR: Taylor 4-27; Howard 3-27; Hinson 1-9; Galarza 1-3; C Guida 1-2.