Beauregard stings Carroll-Ozark in Region opener

BEAUREGARD — Carroll-Ozark didn’t give the Beauregard Hornets much trouble Friday.

In fact, the Hornets had a much tougher time overcoming themselves than dealing with anything the Eagles threw at them.

Despite a flurry of fumbles, penalties and ill-timed mental mistakes, Beauregard won, 28-7, in the Class 5A-Region 2 opener for both teams.

“It was ugly,” Beauregard head coach Smitty Grider said. “The mistakes are something we’ve got to eliminate.

“But we won, and that’s the biggest thing.”

Beauregard (1-1, 1-0) looked set to dominate from the opening snap. The Hornets marched 61 yards in their first six plays, setting up second-and-goal from the Carroll 1.

And then the flood of mistakes began.

The Hornets’ next two plays netted minus-3 yards, forcing a field goal attempt on fourth down.

The snap sailed over the head of kicker Troy Varro, forcing Varro to sprint backward and fall on the fumble, eliminating a scoring opportunity.

The loose ball was one of a whopping six fumbles for Beauregard; all but one came inside Carroll territory.

“We’ve got to learn not to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Grider said. “We could have put this game away, and we made it more difficult than it could have been.”

The Beauregard defense — and junior tailback Kris James — made sure the mistakes didn’t come back to haunt the Hornets.

The defense held Carroll (1-1, 0-1) to 104 yards of offense, shutting the Eagles out until an 8-yard touchdown with 35 seconds to play put the Eagles on the board.

James finished with 25 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Ameriol Finley also accounted for two scores, one rushing and one passing.

“I’m proud of our team,” Grider said. “We battled through some adversity and didn’t pout.

“We just stayed focused on what was important: Getting the win.”

Beauregard plays at Rehobeth next weekend.

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