By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Resiliency was the characteristic that shined Friday at Fred Hardke Field in Carlisle. The Bison were down and looked like they might be overmatched by the visiting Danville Little Johns in their second-round class 2A playoff matchup. Danville’s speed helped it race out to a 16-0 lead, but Carlisle buckled down and mounted a slow, methodical comeback to win 22-16 and advance to the quarterfinal round.
“This group of kids is just a great group of young men,” Carlisle coach Scott Waymire said. “I think the world of those seniors. I’ve been around them six years. They just played like Carlisle Bison tonight. We’ve had great groups since I got here and before. The kids just have great character. It’s a just a great place. Carlisle’s a great town and has a lot of great kids.”
Carlisle, 11-0, started the game-winning drive on its own 9-yard line with 6:58 left in the game. On second and three from the Danville 11, Bo Weddle took the fullback trap up the middle, cut left and raced into the end zone to give Carlisle a 20-16 lead with 2:09 remaining in the game. Deron Ricks added the two-point conversion on a sweep left to set the final margin, but the game was not yet over.
Danville, 9-3, took possession, and despite several penalties on the final drive, still threatened. The Little Johns had first down at the Carlisle 16 with 21 seconds left. An illegal procedure penalty moved them back five yards. On the next play, Dakota Long caught a 5-yard pass, but didn’t get out of bounds. With no timeouts left, Danville ran out of time before it could snap the ball again.
A key play of the drive was a 20-yard reception on third and one that was called back for illegal motion.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times, and they did too,” Waymire said. “But that speed that they have can help you overcome that a lot of times.”
Indeed early on, Danville’s speed looked like it might be too much for Carlisle.
Danville got on the board with its first drive of the game. Starting from its own 34, four plays got it to the Carlisle 42. That’s where senior tailback Sean Tyra showed his exceptional speed for the first time. From the I formation, Tyra got through the first layer of defenders up the 2 hole, cut left and ran untouched 42 yards for the score with 10:19 left in the first quarter.
Carlisle’s evening got off to a rough start with a mishandled kickoff that left the offense on its own 13 to start its first drive. Still, the Bison had a good drive going when a huge penalty thwarted momentum.
After 10 plays, Carlisle faced third and 8 from the Danville 27. Braxton Petrus picked up the first down on an option pitch from King, but receiver Justice Bryant was called for an illegal block in the back. Instead of first down, Carlisle faced third and 19. An option pass was the call, but Danville sniffed it out and King’s throw was under pressure and incomplete.
Carlisle’s punt was downed by King inside the Danville 1-yard line, but that didn’t help stop the Little John offense.
Danville drove 14 plays, and because of a holding penalty in the course of the drive, 109 yards to score. The key play of the drive was a 13-yard pass completion from Giles to Daniel Parker on third and five. Danville got about half the yardage on 12 plays. The final two went for 54. On second and 16, Giles hit Dadrian Ester for a 20-yard completion.
On the next play Tyra got loose again, this time straight up the middle 34 yards for the score. The extra point was no good, leaving it 13-0 Danville with 11:34 left in the first half.
Carlisle’s next drive ended on downs at the Danville 48. More penalties hurt the Little Johns, who had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Kevin Dominguez with 6:08 left in the half that made it 16-0.
The Bison had to have something good happen on its next drive, and it did. The Bison started at their own 26 and put together a 13-play scoring drive. Disaster almost struck on second and goal from the 5-yard line. The snap hit the ground, but Carlisle covered it for a 3-yard loss. Carlisle called timeout to talk about the third-down play.
Out of the timeout, quarterback Zac King kept it on a bootleg that Danville didn’t recognize. King walked into the end zone with 17 seconds left in the first half. The same call to the other side was good for the conversion and Carlisle had cut Danville’s lead in half just before halftime.
Carlisle got it back to start the second half. After a first down from a Danville personal foul, and another on a 10-yard run by Ty Vaughn, the Bison started committing the penalties. Two illegal procedure penalties and an incomplete pass set up fourth and 19, forcing Carlisle to punt. Danville’s first drive of the second half was three and out, a huge win for the Bison defense.
The Bison offense responded by scoring.
A poor punt set Carlisle up at its own 49. Three plays got just four yards, but Carlisle caught another big break when Danville was flagged for an illegal substitution. That made it fourth and one. Senior Braxton Petrus got the call.
He was initially hit two yards in the backfield, but a second effort got him through the line of scrimmage for a 2-yard gain that kept the drive alive.
A holding penalty on the next play backed Carlisle up again, but Petrus picked up 36 on first and long to set up first and goal at the 9.
Seven yards from Vaughn and two from Weddle got it into the end zone. The conversion failed and Carlisle trailed 16-14 with 3:56 left in the third quarter.
The two teams traded turnovers on the next two possessions. Danville got it back on an interception by Ester at the Little John 20-yard line.
From there, Danville marched 14 plays to the Carlisle 11, but a huge defensive play stopped the drive.
On third and goal at the 11, Weddle hammered Danville quarterback Mike Jiles, forcing a fumble that King recovered, setting up Carlisle’s winning drive.
Danville won the yardage battle, piling up 371 yards of offense to 307 for Carlisle. Weddle led the Bison with 161 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. Petrus added 70 yards on 14 carries and Vaughn had eight carries for 60 yards.
Tyra led Danville with 12 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
Carlisle will face the Gurdon Go-Devils next week. Gurdon beat Spring Hill 35-7 on Friday.
