CARLISLE — In Friday night’s Class 2A quarterfinal match-up between Carlisle and Rison, Bison coach Brandon Barberee called the Bison’s second half in their victory over Rison “the best half of football” his team has played all season.
He can thank Deron Ricks for a large part of that.
Ricks served as the catalyst for the Bison all game, finishing with 188 rushing yards and scoring all four Carlisle touchdowns as the Bison won 30-19 after trailing by double-digits at halftime at Fred C. Hardke Memorial Field.
“Our kids, we saw the missed opportunities in the first half and just thought, if we just keep plugging along and plugging along, that one play at a time that we preach, and they did,” Barberee said. “They played a heck of a half.”
Ricks led a Carlisle (12-1) running attack that finished the game with 352 yards, but didn’t take over until the second half. The Wildcats (8-4) were able to take a 19-8 halftime lead behind Jokenie Broughton’s 77 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first two quarters and their own potent rushing attack.
Following Rison’s punt — the only one of the game — on their first possession of the second half, Ricks set the tone on Carlisle’s ensuing drive, hitting on a 15-yard run that led to his second touchdown five plays later from 6 yards out to make it 19-14.
The touchdown started a string of 22 unanswered points for the Bison, who took over the second half defensively, holding the Wildcats to less than 100 yards of total offense in the second half and forced two turnovers.
“We brought more pressure from the edges, which helped us and helped keep them contained a little bit better,” Barberee said.
After taking the lead on Ricks’ third touchdown, this one from 9 yards out to make it 22-19 with a 2-point conversion, the Bison sealed the game on a 3-yard score by Ricks with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter.
“He’s a big load, so your offense has to help your defense out,” Totty said. “And we were having to play more defense their in the second half, because out offense [went] three-and-out to open the second half. In fact, I guess the first three times we had the ball in the second half [we were unsuccessful]. Three-and-out the first one, fumbled the ball and then tried a fake punt there on the second drive, fumble the ball the third drive. So we’re having to play more defensive snaps.”
Carlisle will travel to Junction City for their Class 2A semifinal match-up next Friday.