BARNESVILLE — Through the first five games of the 2023 high school football season, Barnesville is perfect.
Thursday night’s 35-7 dominance of visiting River (2-2) on the artificial surface at Shamrock Stadium extended the Shamrocks regular-season win streak to an impressive 21 straight. The last loss in the regular season came during week 4 of the 2021 season to Shadyside, who will visit next Friday.
“I’m so proud of these kids,” Barnesville head coach Blake Allen said. “We came out ready to play and that was the key. We knew we had to set the tone early, and we did just that.”
Barnesville won the toss and elected to receive to start the game.
They went 56 yards on nine plays to take a 7-0 lead when quarterback Casey Carpenter scored on a 1-yard sneak. Evan Lough was perfect on the first of his dive PAT kicks for a quick 7-0 lead.
After stopping the Pilots on a 3-and-out, the Shamrocks marched 79 yards on nine plays to take a 14-0 advantage.
“We even played through some adversity there in the second quarter,” Allen noted. “The (Kabel) Isaly kid is a heck of an athlete and he made some plays to get them back in the game, but we responded with two late touchdowns that gave us a big lead at the half.”
Isaly threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Finn Bowers on a slant pattern on River’s first possession of the second quarter. Carson Makris booted the extra-point for a 14-7 game with 7:29 left in the half.
The Pilots defense held the Shamrocks for the first time on the ensuing drive, but Bradey McIntire picked off a fourth-down pass at his own 29.
It only took five plays for Barnesville to reach paydirt as Starr burst up the middle of the field after making a defender miss in the backfield. He juked another at the 5 before reaching the end zone to complete the 19-yard scamper. Lough made it 21-7 with 1:49 on the clock in the first half.
A sack on second down by Kobe Jones set up a third-and-12 from the River 33, but Barnesville’s Marshall Meade was all over Isaly before the ball came loose and bounced to the Pilots’ 14 where offensive lineman Matthew Gregg fell on it.
“If we would’ve got in there at the end of the first half, it might have been a different ball game in the second half,” veteran River head coach Mike Flannery recalled. “But we didn’t and they went down the field and scored to go up by three scores.”
After receiving the punt at the 50, Starr broke off right tackle for 21 yards and Carpenter found Jason “Duker” Castello for 17. Carpenter then dropped back to pass as time was winding down, he felt pressure from his backside and the lefty spun away from it. After scrambling back to his left he spotted Starr in the left corner of the end zone before throwing a strike for the 17-yard score as the clock showed 2.6 seconds. Lough made it 28-7.
After stopping River on the first drive of the third quarter, Barnesville marched 82 yards on eight plays as Trey Toliver went in from 4 yards out. Lough was again perfect as the margin rose to 35-7.
“That touchdown basically sealed the deal,” Allen said.
River followed with a 23-play drive that advanced the ball to the Shamrocks’ 2. However, Kaden Johnson lost two yards on first down and Isaly was tackled for a 3-yard loss on second. A bad snap was recovered by Isaly but resulted in a 13-yard loss to the 20. A fourth-down pass from Isaly to Bowers fell three yards short of the goal line.
Flannery said during the week leading up to the game that this was the best Barnesville team he had ever seen.
“They did nothing to change my mind,” he said afterwards. “I wish them the best of luck. They are going to run the table and make a deep playoff run.
“We came out healthy, except for one kid going down,” Flannery noted. “But we are worried about Peyton Blue. He went out with a knee injury.”
Barnesville amassed nearly 450 yards of total offense, with 259 coming on the ground and 179 through the air. Starr ran 15 times for 138 yards and Toliver added 61 on 11 attempts. Jones had a 41-yard jaunt on his only carry. Carpenter completed 6-of-9 passes for 142 yards and a TD, while Luke Detling found McIntire for a 37-yard gain on his lone pass. Castello had three catches for 76 yards.
“I thought we played really well in all three phases of the game — offense, defense and special teams,” Allen allowed.
Meanwhile the Pilots could muster only 141 total yards, with 104 of that coming on the arm of Isaly who was 13 for 19 for 104, a touchdown and a pick. He also carried the ball 15 times for 32 yards as they managed just 50 stripes on 30 rushes. Bowers caught seven balls for 80 yards.
GAME NOTES
— Former Barnesville head coach John Marks was in attendance.
— The Shamrocks lost offensive linemen Luke Taylor and Salvador Almaraz to lower body injuries.
— River’s lead in the all-time series was sliced to 20-16.
