CARTERVILLE– The Carterville Lions washed out the West Frankfort Redbirds with a final score of 21-16 in Friday night’s homecoming game.
Starting the game strong, senior quarterback Nick Bisching connected with his teammate, senior Chance Myers, for a phenomenal run resulting in the Lions’ first touchdown of the night. Junior Ethan Hendrix followed up with a successful kick leaving the score 7-0 Carterville.
Not long afterwards, lightning struck and the teams headed back into the fieldhouse.
An hour and a half later the lightning subsided and the game resumed with seven minutes left in the 1st quarter.
“It never slowed down,” commented Bisching. “Everyone stayed energetic and loud, there was a constant urge to get out there and play and I think that’s what really fueled us after the rain delay. We maintained the game mindset. Our main focus while we were in the locker room was adjustments in our game plan.”
Lions once again surpassed the Redbirds with a touchdown from senior Riley Crain, leaving West Frankfort trailing 14-0.
Trying to catch up to the Lions, the Redbirds scored a touchdown and went in for a successful 2-point conversion.
The game continued with each team fighting for control, West Frankfort never getting far before Carterville blocked them out.
With just over a minute left in the game, a Redbird player went down hard, suffering from a concussion.
In the final play of the game, the Redbirds had the ball. As they attempted a touchdown pass, one of Carterville’s defensive linemen intercepted the ball, winning Carterville the game.
“It was definitely hard because nobody has ever had to do that before and we weren’t used to it but our team stayed motivated and we were ready to go back out at all times to get the win,” explained Myers.
The Lions football team will be playing next at Herrin this coming Friday (9/20), to follow along with the rest of their season and everything else Carterville Athletics, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter (X) @CartervilleAth.
