Unable to slow down Carlisle’s triple-option rushing attack in the second half, the Norwalk football team was defeated by the Class 4A sixth-ranked Wildcats 49-28 Friday night in a game heard live on kniakrls.com (KNIA3).
Carlisle outscored the Warriors 35-14 in the second half to break a 14-14 halftime tie, improving to 7-1 overall and clinching the 4A District 5 championship with one week left in the regular season. The Wildcats are 4-0 in district play and are guaranteed a Week 9 win by forfeit over Perry next Friday.
Norwalk, meanwhile, dropped to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in District 5 going into next week’s home game with Bondurant-Farrar. According to head coach Paul Patterson, the Warriors likely face a must-win situation against the Bluejays to keep their playoff hopes alive.
“We’ve got a huge game next week,” Patterson said. “We’ve got to win in order to give us just a chance to be anywhere in the postseason.”
Norwalk couldn’t have asked for a much better start on Friday, opening the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive and then recovering a pooch kickoff at Carlisle’s 22-yard line. The Warriors were stopped on downs, however, and later had an 85-yard touchdown pass nullified by penalty.
The Wildcats got their triple-option offense untracked in the second quarter and scored seven touchdowns the rest of the way, capped by Jes Krcil’s fourth-quarter scores of 48 and 36 yards. Unofficially, Jack Laughlin led Carlisle with 225 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries. Krcil and quarterback Joe Goodhue combined for another 178 yards and three scores.
Patterson says the Wildcat ball-control offense is tough to contain once they get rolling.
“They do what they do and they do it really well,” he said. “They’re very physical. When you take one aspect of their option away, then they come back with something different.
“And then… when you start to press against them, they’re not necessarily going to create mistakes, but they’ll force you to make mistakes yourself because their offense does such a good job of ball control, putting points on the board, and then putting you in a situation where you have to catch up.”
Senior receiver Dillon Ranck had an unforgettable game in defeat for Norwalk, racking up 14 catches for 219 yards and scoring all four Warrior TDs on receptions of 3, 21, 4 and 38 yards. He also had an 85-yard touchdown called back. Quarterback Landon Hochstein finished with 331 passing yards and four TDs, but was intercepted twice and also lost a fumble.
Norwalk lost the turnover battle 3-0 and came up empty on two first-half drives inside the Carlisle 10-yard line. The Wildcats have now won three straight head-to-head matchups with the Warriors.