The Scott Bulldogs clinched at least a share of their first City League football championship since 2014 on Thursday night, taking a 32-10 victory over visiting Start.
The Bulldogs (7-2, 4-0 CL) spotted the Spartans a 3-0 lead but, by halftime, 6-foot-6, 205-pound junior quarterback Carnell Smith II had thrown three touchdown passes to put his team in control.
Scott can secure an outright title with a win at Waite next Friday.
Start (2-7, 3-1), winner of two straight City crowns and six of the past seven titles, would need to beat Bowsher in Week 10 and have Waite (2-6, 2-1) beat Scott to create a three-way tie for the championship.
“I walked through the hallway one day [this week] and one of the cheerleaders came up to me and said, 'Hey. Can we really beat Start?,'” second-year Scott head coach Rahsan Wilson said. “I kind of took that as a shot. I said, 'We are going to go and take the challenge, and we're definitely going to bring it home.' ”
Smith was 9 of 19 passing for 172 yards and four touchdowns, and the Bulldogs' ground attack was paced by Amon Haynes' 122 yards on 23 attempts, including a 22-yard TD run for Scott's final score in the fourth quarter.
Two of Smith's scoring passes went to Daryl Barnett (4 catches, 102 yards), who also had two interceptions. The other two went to Tylin Davis (4 catches, 67 yards).
“When I've got Tylin and Daryl on the outside I really can't be worried,” Smith said. “I feel like we wanted it more, and that we came into the City [schedule] with a chip on our shoulder.”
After Haynes lost a fumble on the opening kickoff return at his 16, Start moved to the Bulldogs' 6 before settling for a 22-yard field goal by Austin Hernandez.
But, after the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, Scott’s first play was a 65-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Barnett, giving the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead with 8:53 left in the quarter.
Scott took advantage of a short field following a Start punt, needing to cover just 29 yards for its second score. Smith fired a strike to Barnett, who made a one-handed catch in the end zone on an 18-yard TD pass for a 12-3 lead 10:14 before halftime.
“I just do whatever the coach tells me to do,” Barnett said. “Whatever they need to do on both sides of the ball to be a team player.
Just before halftime, Spartans quarterback Marqise Yarbro lost a fumble at his 12 and, one play later, Smith threw his third TD pass of the half.
This time he hit Davis in the right corner of the end zone from 20 yards out, and Scott pushed its lead to 18-3.
Yarbro, also the team's punter, turned a high punt snap into a TD early in the third quarter. He had to leap high to snare the ball with one hand, and was unable to kick the ball. Instead, he improvised and bolted 47 yards around the right end for the score to get the Spartans within 18-10 just 1:45 into the quarter.
Scott answered late in the quarter after Barnett returned an interception of Yarbro 40 yards to the Start 35.
Five plays later, Carnell Smith hit Davis on a 19-yard TD pass, and those two connected again on the two-point conversion for a 26-10 Scott lead with 34 seconds left in the quarter.
“Scott is a really talented football team,” Start coach Godfrey Lewis said. “They don't have a lot of numbers, but what they do have is the chemistry and the physicality. They're in shape and they're strong, and they played for their coach. They deserve it. They're having a special season.”
First Published October 14, 2022, 2:40 a.m.
