Barnesville tandem too much for Pointers
Oct. 28—BARNESVILLE — Barnesville used big performances by running back Taison Starr and quarterback Casey Carpenter to build a big lead and defeat the South Point Pointers 56-20 on Friday night at Shamrock Stadium in the opening round of the Division 5 playoffs.
Starr finished the night with 184 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 76 yards. Carpenter completed 13 of 16 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns.
Eli Wilburn was a bright spot for the Pointers, as the senior totaled 293 all-purpose yards, that included two kickoff returns for touchdowns and a rushing score. Blaine Freeman finished the night with 55 yards on the ground.
The Pointers (5-6) got off to slow start, punting on their first two possessions and managing just one first down.
Barnesville (11-0) pounced out to an early 22-0 lead behind two touchdown runs by Starr and a 41-yard touchdown pass by Carpenter to Jason Castello.
Wilburn would try to spark the Pointers on the ensuing kickoff. After fielding the kick, he shook off two tacklers, turned on the after burners and left everyone behind for a 92-yard kickoff return and cut the deficit to 22-6 with 1:07 remaining in the first quarter.
The Pointers only possession of the second quarter would be their best drive of the night, covering 85 yards and nearly consuming eight minutes.
During the drive, Wilburn had five carries for 32 yards and Ethan Hunt completed a key 26-yard pass to Gage Chapman on a third-down play to help get South Point down to the Barnesville two. But an interception in the end zone on fourth-and-goal by Barnesville ended the scoring threat.
The Shamrocks capitalized off the turnover seven plays later, as Starr scored his third touchdown of the night on a 23-yard dash to extend the lead to 37-6.
Wilburn would strike again, picking up a line-drive kickoff and splitting between a host of Barnesville players to return his second kick 95-yards for another score. Hunt would hit Davon Lewis for the two-point conversion pass to make it 37-14 with 1:52 before halftime.
Wilburn would notch his third score of the night in the fourth quarter, taking a handoff on a jet sweep, reversing field and following his blockers 25-yards on the final play of the game to finalize the score at 56-20.
Castello led all Shamrock receivers with five catches for 108 yards and a score. Brady Mcintire and Jack Anderson also caught a touchdown pass.
South Point 6 8 0 6 = 20
Barnesville 22 21 7 6 = 56
First Quarter
Barn — Taison Starr 2 run (kick failed), 6:34.
Barn — Taison Starr 40 run (Luke Delting pass to Taison Starr), 3:21.
Barn — Jason Castello 41 pass from Casey Carpenter (Luke Delting run), 1:24.
SP — Eli Wilburn 92 kickoff return (kick failed), 1:07.
Second Quarter
Barn — Koby Jones 2 run (Luke Delting run), 10:23.
Barn — Taison Starr 23 run (Evan Lough kick), 2:06.
SP — Eli Wilburn 95 kickoff return (Ethan Hunt to Davon Lewis), 1:52.
Barn — Casey Carpenter 1 run (pass failed), 0:05.
Third Quarter
Barn — Brady Mcintire 11 pass from Casey Carpenter (Evan Lough kick), 4:47.
Fourth Quarter
Barn — Jack Andereson 3 pass from Colt Carpenter, 1:26.
SP — Eli Wilburn 25 run, 0:00.
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SP Barn
First downs 10 25
Rushes-yards 25-153 35-242
Passing yards 57 253
Total yards 210 495
Cmp-Att-Int 5-13-2 15-18-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 10-115.5 2-10
Punts-average 3-43.0 0-0.0
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Individual Leaders
RUSHING — South Point: Blaine Freeman 12-55, Eli Wilburn 8-76 TD, Ethan Hunt 1-5, Gage Chapman 4-17; Barnesville: Taison Starr 20-184 3TD, Trey Toliver 6-37, Koby Jones 3-11 TD, Casey Carpenter 1-1 TD, Evan Carpenter 4-9, Colt Carpenter 1-0.
PASSING — South Point: Ethan Hunt 5-13-2 57; Barnesville: Casey Carpenter 13-16-1 236 2TD, Colt Carpenter 2-2-0 17 TD.
RECEIVING — South Point: Gage Chapman 1-26, Brayden Hanshaw 2-11, Eli Wilburn 1-minus 10, Kam Miller 1-30; Barnesville: Taison Starr 2-76, Jason Castello 5-108 TD, Trey Toliver 1-1, Luke Delting 2-22, Jack Anderson 2-17 TD, Camden Carpenter 2-18, Bradey Mcintire 1-11 TD.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — None.
