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Carlisle edges Red Land, stays undefeated


Turnovers were the difference Friday night for unbeaten Carlisle.

The Thundering Herd took advantage of five Red Land miscues en route to a 30-22 victory against the Patriots at West Shore Stadium on Friday night.

In the first quarter, Red Land (2-1, 1-0 Keystone) drove down the field, but Hunter Anderson stepped in front of a Jake Radic pass in the red zone to end the threat.

“Turnovers were big, and people will talk about winning the turnover game,” said Herd coach Pat Conrad. “We got five turnovers, but we forced the ball out and made two big interceptions. Our kids were in position to make plays, but we need to do a better job on special teams. We allowed too many big returns.”

Carlisle scored on the same possession as Nate Barnes ran the ball in from 4 yards out.

Red Land’s Hunter Briner ran the ensuing kickoff back 98 yards, one of several big special teams plays by the Patriots.

The Patriots were poised to score again, but Justin Johnson fumbled the ball at the 2-yard line and it was recovered in the end zone by the Herd.

Herd quarterback Eric Harris found Barnes from 21 yards out for a 14-7 lead.

Gavyn Barnes returned a Patriot punt 65 yards for a Herd touchdown before the Patriots recorded a score just before halftime. Radic found Matt Moody for a score with just 44 seconds left on the clock.

A Caleb Richwine field goal from 30 for Carlisle was the only score in the third quarter.

Rojen Porcopio ran around right end for 20 yards with a little less than a minute remaining to seemingly seal the game for Carlisle.

A huge kickoff return by Josiah Espinosa gave the Patriots life at the 33. Radic found Espinosa for a touchdown with 40 seconds left. Radic’s two point conversion cut the deficit to eight points.

The onside kick was recovered by Carlisle to end the game.

“We had our chances, but five turnovers are too many to overcome,” said Patriot coach Chad Weaver. “We were within an onside kick of having a chance to win the game. We played very well other than the turnovers — all five were inside Carlisle territory and three inside the red zone.”

Carlisle improves to 2-0 and hosts South Western in Week 3, while Red Land plays Dover.

Carlisle 30, Red Land 22
Carlisle_ 14_ 7_ 3_ 6_ — _ 30
Red Land_ 7_ 7_ 0_ 8_ — _ 22
First Quarter
Car
— Nate Barnes 4-rush (Caleb Richwine kick), 7:05
RLa — Hunter Briner 98-kickoff return (Chad Stout kick), 6:48
Car — Nate Barnes 21-pass from Eric Harris (Richwine kick), 5:08
Second Quarter
Car
— Gabyn Barnes 65-punt return (Richwine kick), 6:48
RLa — Matt Moody 32-pass from Jake Radic (Stout kick), 0:44.6
Third Quarter
Car
— Richwine 30 FG, 7:07
Fourth Quarter
Car
— Rojen Porcopio 20-rush (pass failed), 0:56.4
RLa — Josiah Espinosa 33-pass from Radic (Radic run), 0:44.0
Team Statistics
_ Car_ RLa
First downs _ 14_ 12
Rushes-yards _ 45-193_ 23-140
Passing _ 8-14-0_ 7-18-2
Passing yards _ 108_ 165
Total yards _ 301_ 305
Punts _ 8-37.4_ 3-41
Fumbles-lost _ 1-0_ 4-3
Penalties-yards _ 10-71_ 5-45
Individual Statistics
Rushing
— Carlisle- Prince Gay 5-1, Rojen Porcopio 25-93, Gavyn Barnes  4-32, Nate Barnes 3-16, Eric Harris 8-51. Red Land- Justin Johnson 13-108 , Hunter Briner 1-6, Tate Myers 1-3, Jake Radic 7-24, Nathan Stahl 1-(-1)
Passing — Carlisle- Eric Harris 8-14-0, 108 yards, Gavyn Barnes 0-1-0, 0 yards. Red Land- Jake Radic 7-18-2, 165 yards
Receiving — Carlisle- Nate Barnes 3-53, Gavyn Barnes 5-55. Red Land- Hunter Briner 1-10, Jaelyn Gaither 1-42, Matt Moody 1-32, Tate Myers 2-18, Josiah Espinosa 2-63