High school football: First win for Carson’s Lowe; Guiton leads road romp
Published 2:55 am Saturday, September 3, 2022
Staff report
NORWOOD — Carson clobbered South Stanly 47-0 on Friday, giving new head coach Jonathan Lowe his first victory at the helm of the Cougars.
Carson (1-2) won emphatically against the Bulls (0-3), dominating on defense and piling up more than 400 yards of balanced offense.
Michael Guiton was 10-for-14 passing for 173 yards and two touchdowns and broke a 78-yard rushing touchdown.
Carson had 254 net rushing yards.
“We wanted to establish the run game, but then we noticed we could beat them downfield with the pass,” Lowe said. “So we trusted our quarterback and he made some great throws. We have a good receiving corps.”
The offensive line gave Guiton plenty of time. There were no sacks.
Kody Samples returned the opening kickoff into South Stanly territory, and Guiton’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Emory Taylor, with the game less than two minutes old, put Carson ahead to stay.
South Stanly fumbled on its first offensive snap. Jake Ross made the recovery for the Cougars at the South Stanly 29, Guiton immediately threw a TD pass to CJ Guida, but it was erased by a holding penalty.
Carson, which only had to punt once in the game, got its running game rolling in the second quarter, as Ross, Jay McGruder and Makani Guida finished marches to the end zone for a secure 27-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Guiton broke 78-yard rushing touchdown and flipped a TD pass to CJ Guida. This one stood.
When Jordan Galarza ran for a 5-yard touchdown with 8:52 left to play, Carson’s lead was 47-0, and the rest of the game sped by with a running clock.
Carson’s defense held South Stanly to negative passing yardage and 113 net rushing yards. South Stanly only had five first downs.
Carson Aman had an interception for the Cougars. Cody Russell forced a fumble.
“We have a great staff and defensive coordinator Jason Stanley put together an excellent scheme,” Lower said. “Our defensive guys are relentless. They do not let up.”
Carson was shut out by Statesville on opening night, but went down to the wire with Mount Pleasant before losing in Week 2.
Now the Cougars can build on their first victory.
“These guys started working in February when I got the job, and I’ve had kids showing up at 6 a.m. just because they want to do well, so they deserve the win,” Lowe said. “I take no credit for this win. This was all of our guys and our coaching staff.”
Carson 7 20 13 7 — 47
S. Stanly 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring plays
C — Taylor 44 pass from Guiton, 10:19 (Avilez kick), 1st
C — Ross 6 run (Avliez kick), 11:02, 2nd
C — McGruder 27 run (PAT failed), 9:12, 2nd
C — M Guida 18 run (Avilez kick), 1:44 2nd
C — Guiton 78 run (Avilez kick), 9:49, 3rd
C — CJ Guida 7 pass from Guiton (PAT failed), 6:50, 3rd
C — Galarza 5 un (Avilez kick), 8:52, 4th
Individual
Carson
Rushing — Carson: Guiton 2-82; M Guida 5-66; Galarza 8-39; McGruder 3-36; Ross 3-20; Gay 2-7; Taylor 1-3.
Passing — Guiton 10-14-0, 173, 2 TDs
Receiving — Taylor 3-94, TD; CJ Guida 3-57, TD; Howard 3-11; Vaughn 1-6: Hinson 1-5
S. Stanly
Rushing — Gaddy 11-54; Misenheimer 10-49; Lilly 5-9