By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Some places it’s the heavy package, the hammer package or the jumbo package, but at Carson the Cougars like to call it the muscle package.

The 11 strongest guys in the football program, nine of them seniors, take the field in short-yardage situations and they, well … they muscle.

Carson prevailed in a huge South Piedmont Conference ballgame on Friday. The muscle package played a major role in pulling out the homecoming game. Carson scored two muscle-package touchdowns in an epic comeback and Easton Mullis, a linebacker, crashed into the end zone for the decisive muscle-package two-point conversion in the second overtime.

Carson’s 35-34 victory over Central Cabarrus elevated Carson from being hopeful of getting into the state playoffs to probably being in the state playoffs. The 3A West bracket will contain 32 teams. Carson entered Friday’s action 34th and finished it 28th in the RPI rankings.

Carson came back  from 21-7 and 27-14. DB Carson Aman had a super game for the Cougars with two interceptions and a blocked kick. Kody Samples and Tyler Vitale also made interceptions for Carson against Central’s standout QB Kaden Kline.

“That was a game for the ages, a heart game, a great win for our team,” Carson head coach Jonathan Lowe said. “When you’re a kid, you dream about being part of games like that, the guys celebrating, the fans rushing the field.  One of our parents came up to me after the game and said it was like an episode from Friday Night Lights. That was a good way to describe it.”

Carson was 1-4 not long ago. Now 4-5 and with a South Rowan team that has lost eight in a row next on the schedule, the Cougars are feeling good. They are on track for third place in the SPC, and while third doesn’t mean a thing as far as the current playoff system is constructed, it’s still a lot better than anything that comes after third.

“If we can get to 5-5, if we can get in the playoffs, that’s one heck of a season, especially for our 19 seniors,” Lowe said. “I can’t say enough about these guys and these coaches, how hard they work in practice and how focused they are every day on getting better.”

Carson hasn’t won five games in a season since coach Joe Pinyan’s 2015 Cougars won seven times.

Carson enjoyed a sensational start, with Michael Guiton throwing a 77-yard touchdown pass to Emory Taylor.

Central, which lost several starters in a physical game with West Rowan last week, tied it  at 7-7 on a short scoring run by Michael Forney.

Then Christian Clemons took a screen pass 60 yards for a 14-7 Central lead.

Carson (4-5, 3-2) was threatening to tie the score when an 80-yard pick-six by the Vikings’ Sayveon McFadden shoved the stunned Cougars into a 21-7 hole.

Guiton was hurt in the second quarter and was knocked out of the game. Taylor is the backup QB. He’s a capable quarterback, but it hurts losing him as a receiver.

Taylor connected on fade patterns with Jay Howard and CJ Guida, as Carson finally turned the momentum before halftime. Taylor’s throw to Guida was good for a 25-yard touchdown and cut the Vikings’ halftime lead to 21-14.

Carson fell behind 27-14 when Kline threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Adriel Miller, but sticking with a power ground attack, with Jordan Galarza and Jay McGruder serving as a 1-2 punch, started paying dividends for the Cougars as the second half wore on.

Jake Ross, a linebacker playing despite a broken nose, is part of Carson’s muscle package. He pounded in the touchdown that cut Carson’s deficit to 27-21.

Then, with Carson facing a fourth-and-goal at the Central 1 in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line. Mullis asked for the ball. Ross is normally the muscle package ballcarrier, but Lowe let Mullis tote it. Mullis put the game on his shoulders.

“Fourth down, 1-yard-line, it’s not going to be about what you call, it’s going to be about the effort,” Lowe said. “We had great effort from 11 guys.”

Mullis put it in the end zone for 27-27. Luis Avilez is about as reliable as it gets as a kicker, but the Vikings blocked his PAT try to keep it 27-all.

Then Central had two chances to win late in regulation.

A field goal attempt struck the upright and fell short of the cross bar with 1:30 remaining.

Then Carson failed to get a first down on three pass plays, didn’t use much clock and punted it right back to the Vikings. Central got another opportunity, but missed another field goal try at the end of regulation.

“We didn’t have any timeouts and we should’ve just run out the clock and went to overtime, but we were throwing it around,” Lowe said. “The loss would’ve been on me. We were fortunate.”

Lowe admitted he wasn’t sure exactly how high school overtimes worked — this was his first one — but some assistant coaches like Jason Stanley and Barry Mitchem have been around a while and they gave him a crash course on the procedure. Four downs from the 10. Alternating possessions. You want to be on defense first.

Central won the toss and chose to play defense. Carson had to settle for a field-goal attempt on fourth down. The Vikings blocked it.

But Carson’s defense held, and Tristen McBride blocked Central’s field goal attempt for the win. The drained teams headed to a second overtime.

In the second OT, the Vikings had the ball first. They scored when Miller recovered a fumble in the end zone. Central added the PAT for a 34-27 lead.

Carson answered. Galarza burst threw a big hole for a touchdown on first down.

“We’d had some kicks blocked, so we were going for two, going for the win, there was never any doubt about that,” Lowe said. “The muscle package. I knew it was coming down to how badly we wanted it, and I knew our guys wanted it. Mullis was going to take the snap and run left.”

When Mullis smashed his way into the end zone for the victory, Lowe admits that he lost his mind for a few minutes.

But who could blame him. His first overtime game was a win and it’s a win that could lead to a lot more wins.