This past Friday, the Karns Beavers took on the Oak Ridge Wildcats for an in-conference matchup. Karns, the home team, fell 41-0 to a tough Oak Ridge team. Karns’ defense still had problems with tackling runners in the open field, but it was not nearly as much of a struggle as we had seen in past games. The offense also did not seem to be as smooth as it has been in the past. Karns’ head coach, Lee Warren, had a short and simple comment on the game this week.
“We just had too many mental errors on offense and too many missed tackles on defense,” Warren said.
However, there were some positives in this game as well.
“We won the turnover battle which is something for us to build on,” Coach Warren said, seeming pleased that Karns was able to force so many turnovers while only losing the ball twice themselves.
Karns’ pass defense showed great improvement, forcing 3 interceptions and 3 pass break-ups. The Beavers’ defense also had little problem getting in the backfield, with Alex Idol having 1 tackle for loss and 1 sack, as well as 2 additional tackles for loss by Kareem Ellis and Brady Kittle. Karns also continued to show that they have a dangerous rushing attack by accumulating 126 total rushing yards against a very good Oak Ridge defense. Karns’ passing offense also showed promise, with their junior quarterback, Carson Paul, having almost double the yards from their previous match against Gibbs, achieving a total of 95 yards. Several other players also showed great improvement this week.
Coach Warren had 2 specific players who he believes had a large impact for the team; “Kareem Ellis ran the ball hard and added some pressure off the edge. Getting Walker Lockhart back on both sides of the ball added a nice boost as well,” Warren said.
Karns High School will take the field next on September 15th at 7 p.m. for their Homecoming game against Heritage. The 0-4 Beavers will face a 1-3 Mountaineers team coming off a 47-17 loss against Powell. The Karns student section theme for Homecoming is blackout, except for Seniors, who will be wearing togas.
