About the only thing that could stop Bryce Smoot on Thursday night was the weather. A senior making his debut at quarterback, Smoot accounted for six touchdowns and 353 yards of total offense as Carroll County thumped Grundy 46-24 in the season opener in Hillsville.
The contest also marked the varsity head coaching debut for Carroll County's Seth Greer, who was presented the game ball by CCHS Principal Chuck Thompson after securing his first victory for his alma mater. That was about the only thing normal for the rookie skipper, however, considering the game was played on a Thursday due to the upcoming Flea Market, was delayed for approximately 75 minutes for lighting, and featured a two-minute halftime.
"The atmosphere was weird and we had a lot of decisions about how late we were going to push it because they didn't want to drive all the way back from Grundy on Saturday," Greer said.
Smoot broke a scoreless tie late in the first quarter as he took a quarterback keeper around the right end and skirted loose for a 53-yard touchdown run. It was the first of his four touchdown runs on a night in which he would rush for 182 yards on 12 carries. The Cavalier QB got it done through the air as well, completing 9-of-12 passes for 171 yards and two more touchdowns.
"Bryce Smoot came to play. He is a competitor. He is a playmaker. He is going to do everything he can," Greer said of his signal caller. "We made a lot of young mistakes we've got to clean up but the guys are ready to work. We are trying to get some of these young guys stepping up, too. I thought our tailbacks there at the end started to come on a little bit. I know we have a good team coming up next week (at Grayson County) so Monday is just time to get back to work."
Smoot's second score came early in a second quarter that saw the Cavaliers put 21 points on the board. Seeing the defense crashing hard on tailback Landon Horton, Smoot pulled the ball out from Horton's grasp at the last second before scooting free on an uncontested 45-yard touchdown run. The E.J. Conner extra point gave Carroll County (1-0) a 14-0 lead with 10:36 left in the period.
"We were running zone read and Bryce read it correctly to pull it. He put in the basket, saw what was coming and pulled it," Greer said. "I don't think Landon Horton saw it coming, but he pulled it and it was the right call, the right read. They blitzed off the edge and we timed it up perfect and Bryce made a good football play."
The Cavalier QB also completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Rambo Dalton and scored on a 1-yard keeper to stake Carroll to a 28-16 halftime advantage. A lightning strike stopped play with 1:58 remaining in the first half. After the lengthy delay, the decision was made to complete those two minutes, have the teams take a two-minute break, then kick off the second half.
It was much of the same after the stoppage, however, as Smoot hit Isaiah Easter in stride on a 51-yard scoring strike 80 seconds into the third period. Easter finished the night with four receptions for 88 yards to go along with an interception deep in Cavalier territory early in the first quarter.
"Isaiah had a great night and they paid a lot of attention to him, too," Greer said.
Carroll finished the evening with 305 rushing yards and 476 yards of total offense. Ayden Dickerson ran for 67 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown, while Horton toted the rock nine times for 63 more yards. Dalton had a nice night receiving with three catches for 81 yards and a score.
Grundy (0-1) gave the Cavaliers plenty to think about, however. Trey Taylor torched Carroll with 192 rushing yards, including touchdown scampers of 75 and 81 yards, and a 44-yard touchdown reception.
"We've got a lot to fix. We had a couple of guys like Dane Leonard tonight starting his football game ever in a varsity football game, his first game ever as a sophomore because Cole (Ward) got hurt last week," Greer said. "We had a lot of young guys in the second half. Hayden Jackson, another young guy in his first varsity football game just thrown in the fire after a break, so a lot of our alignment issues and stuff are fixable things. It's just young football players that are learning and they are getting better."
After the game, Greer told the team to enjoy the win for the next 24 hours, then get ready to get back to work and get prepared for Grayson County.
"It's awesome but it makes you want to work that much harder, to see what we need to correct," Greer said of his first varsity win. "My mind is already on next week."
Grundy 0 16 8 0 - 24
Carroll 7 21 12 6 - 40
First Quarter
CC - Smoot 53 run (Conner kick)
Second Quarter
CC - Smoot 45 run (Conner kick)
G - Taylor 44 pass from Lester (Deel pass from Lester)
CC - Dalton 28 pass from Smoot
G - Taylor 75 run (Mays pass from Lester)
CC - Smoot 1 run (Smoot run)
Third Quarter
CC - Easter 51 pass from Smoot (run failed)
G - Taylor 81 run (Lester kick)
CC - A. Dickerson 7 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
CC - Smoot 2 run (kick failed)
Team Statistics
Grundy Carroll
First Downs 8 18
Rushes-Yds. 34-285 36-305
Passing 4-11-2 9-12-0
Passing Yds. 47 171
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 6-42 8-46
Possession 22:52 25:08
Individual Statistics
Grundy
RUSHING - Taylor 14-192, Lester 13-66, C. Deel 7-27.
PASSING - Lester 4-11-2 47 yds.
RECEIVING - Taylor 1-44, Mays 3-3.
Carroll County
RUSHING - Smoot 12-182, Dickerson 13-67, Horton 9-63, Team 2-minus 7.
PASSING - Smoot 9-12-0 171 yds.
RECEIVING - Easter 4-88, Dalton 3-81, Crockett 1-2, Horton 1-0.
Allen Worrell can be reached at (276) 779-4062 or on X@AWorrellTCN
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