Veterans Memorial football hems in Carroll rushing attack in bounce-back win

The Veterans Memorial defense neutralized the explosive Carroll rushing attack and running back Andrew Charlebois accounted for four touchdowns and 139 yards as the Eagles bounced back Thursday from a season-opening loss in a big way.

The Eagles held the Tigers to 26 yards on the ground, most of which came in the fourth quarter as Veterans Memorial scored a 35-17 win at Buc Stadium.

It was a reversal of Veterans Memorial's 41-7 setback against No. 10 Miller to open the season.

"I think we played harder," Veterans Memorial head coach Ben Bitner said. "We probably were cleaner with assignments, but we still made too many mistakes. We turned the ball over twice. Can't turn the ball over against really good teams and win. We turned the ball over in two really bad situations.

Bitner credited defensive coordinator Lanny Wilson and the defensive staff for limiting the Carroll rushing attack.

"The do an unbelievable job week in and week out with our plan," Bitner said. "Our kids play really hard and we ahve the best defensive staff in the area and I'm really proud of them."

The Eagles two turnovers were an improvement after losing it five times in the opener.

Charlebois was a workhorse, pounding on 139 yards and four touchdowns in 25 carries.

More: High school football: 2024 Corpus Christi, Coastal Bend statistical leaders after Week 1

A Different Mindset

Veterans Memorial quarterback Noah Endres, who threw for 142 yards, said the team brought a different mindset into this week after the Week 1 loss, and it allowed the Eagles to play closer to their capability.

"It was really just a mindset we had going into this week," Endres said. "We really had to dominate on the field and run the ball well. I think we did. We try to put it all together throughout every week."

After the Eagles forced a three-and-out, they marched for a game-opening score from Lance Moya.

Carroll cut it within 9-7 on a 44-yard pass from Nick Cantu to Braylen Swanson, but the Eagles punched it in twice before half, on the first two of Charlebois' four touchdowns.

"It was all about mentality," said Charlebois, who has eclipsed 100 yards in each of his first two games. "If we play to our ability, we can be the best team in this area. We treat each other as brothers, more than just teammates and that really helped us push through to get this win we needed."

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Seeing improvement

Though the Tigers fell to 0-2 with the loss, the two touchdowns came on buzzworthy plays — the 44-yard bomb to Swanson and a late fumble recovery for touchdown from Adrian Ben-David.

It was the second straight week the Carroll defense produced a touchdown.

Head coach Cal Neatherlin said he saw positives and improvement from Week 1.

"We cleaned up a lot of mistakes from last week," Neatherlin said. "I like that we are competing for four quarters. Even last week, we got down, but our kids were battling. When you have kids battling, that means you are going to get better. We couldn't run the ball ... Veterans Memorial is bigger than we are up front, but we were able to do things on the outside to offset that.

"Veterans Memorial is a dang good team and we competed with them for four quarters."

Up next

Veterans Memorial (1-1) opens up District 15-5A Division I play on the road at Brownsville Rivera next Friday. Carroll (0-2) also will trek to the Rio Grande Valley to face Brownsville St. Joseph on Friday.

NON-DISTRICT

Veterans Memorial 35, Carroll 17

Veterans Memorial 6 15 0 14 — 35

Carroll 0 7 3 7 — 17

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

VM — Lance Moya 3 run (kick failed), 3:32

Second quarter

VM — Ryan Carmona 27 field goal, 10:35

CAR — Braylen Swanson 44 pass Nick Cantu, (Luke Deleon kick), 9:20

VM — Andrew Charlebois 15 run (kick failed), 4:48

VM — Charlebois 3 run (conversion failed), 0:12

Third quarter

CAR — Deleon 34 field goal, 4:56

Fourth quarter

VM — Charlebois 44 run (Ryan Carmona kick), 10:42

VM — Charlebois 39 run (Carmona kick), 7:39

CAR — Aiden Ben-David 4 fumble return (Deleon kick), 1:51

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: (VM) 20; (C) 13

Rushes-yards: (VM) 37-172; (C) 21-26

Passing: (VM) 142; (C) 168

Comp-Att-Int: (VM) 13-24-1; (C) 17-29-1

Punt-Avg: (VM) 1-16; (C) 2-17

Fum-Lost: (VM) 1-1; (C) 2-2

Pen-Yds: (VM) 8-77; (C) 7-62

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Veterans Memorial, Andrew Charlebois 25-139; Lance Moya 7-27; Noah Endres 4-11; Carroll, Jesse Garcia 8-20, Robert Muhammad 9-1, Nick Cantu 1-2, Nate Bazan 1-2, Drake Timm 2-1

PASSING: Veterans Memorial, Endres 13-24-1—142; Carroll, Cantu 15-23-1—145; Timm 2-6-0—23

RECEIVING: Veterans Memorial, Charles Perry Jr. 5-72; Isaiah Early 2-26; Braeden Rhodes 2-23; Derrick Gray Jr. 4-21; Carroll, Braylen Swanson 5-58, Elijah Cantu 4-31, Cameron Salinas 3-31, Ignacio Arrellano 3-25, Jay Leija 1-13, Josh Delarosa 1-10

RECORDS: Veterans Memorial 1-1; Carroll 0-2

Follow Quinton Martinez and Rey Castillo all season long for comprehensive coverage of high school football in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Veterans Memorial football hems in Carroll rushing attack in bounce-back win