MAGAZINE — When Magazine needed a big play, junior quarterback Ryan Chambers made sure he had the ball in his hands.
Chambers orchestrated a dominating offensive effort that pushed Magazine into the state semifinals with a 41-20 victory against Carlisle in the Class 2A playoffs Friday at Diamondback Stadium. Magazine (12-0) defeated the Bison (10-3) for the second consecutive postseason.
Carlisle Coach Scott Waymire knew how good Chambers was from watching him help Magazine beat Carlisle 30-16 in the second round last season. This year, Chambers was even better, rushing 10 times for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns and setting up another touchdown with a pitch during an option play.
“We knew coming in, if we were going to have a chance, we had to stop Chambers,” Waymire said. “We sure didn’t do that.”
The Magazine offense was almost unstoppable in the first half and the Rattlers led 35-6 at halftime. The Rattlers had 270 yards rushing on 20 carries in the first half, totaling 5 touchdowns and 8 first downs.
Chambers had 142 yards in the first half and carried just twice in the second half.
“We were clicking on all cylinders,” Jones said. “I might be the most surprised person here. We came out really fired up and executed really well.”
The Rattlers scored late in the third quarter, and the Bison scored two fourthquarter touchdowns against Magazine’s reserve defense. Carlisle had 141 yards of total offense against the Rattlers’ first-team defense after rushing for more than 400 yards last week.
“Our defense is outstanding,” defensive lineman Skyler McElroy, who returned a fumble for a touchdown. “Carlisle had run it down everybody’s throat and nobody could stop them. You have to be a good team to stop Carlisle.”
Carlisle had its only firsthalf success on its opening drive. The Bison had a 15-play, 84-yard drive that Zach King capped with a 5-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 2:03 left in the first quarter.
Magazine answered with John Terry’s 4-yard touchdownrun for a 14-6 lead with 11:56 remaining in the half. After a Carlisle fumble, Chambers ran 50 yards for a touchdown and a 21-6 lead with 10:56 left in the half.
The Bison drove to Magazine’s 46, but Chambers knifed into the backfield to tackle D.J. Miller for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-3. Chambers then ran for a 46-yard touchdown to put Magazine ahead 28-6.
McElroy picked up the fumble and ran 21 yards for a touchdown to put the Rattlers ahead 35-6 with 2:50 remaining in the half. Terry’s 2-yard run put Magazine ahead 41-6 with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.
MAGNET COVE 28, SPRING HILL 21, OT
SPRING HILL - Magnet Cove (12-1) overcame a 21-0 halftime deficit to defeat Spring Hill (12-1) in overtime in the Class 2A quarterfinals.
Magnet Cove scored first in overtime on a 6-yard run by Jeff Pinkston, then the Panthers stopped Spring Hill’s Rodrea Jones 2 yards short of the end zone on fourth down to preserve the victory.
Magnet Cove advances to play Magazine in the semifinals Friday.
Spring Hill’s running attack enabled the Bears to build their early lead. Kevin Aaron rushed for 100 yards on five carries.
Magnet Cove tied the score in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard run by Pinkston, who finished with 120 yards on 14 carries.
Sports, Pages 27 on 11/27/2010