Freshmen Trojans defeat Cumberland to finish season undefeated

With the rain pouring down on Charleston field the freshmen Charleston Trojans received a late fourth quarter kickoff that put an emphatic exclamation point to their undefeated system. The kickoff sailed to the Charleston 27 yard-line where returner Larry “L.J” Welsh III caught it in flight. Welsh III quickly cut towards the middle of the field and following a wall of blockers he was able to cut back to the outside where it was a foot race to the goal line. Welsh’s 73-yard kickoff return for a touchdown put an end to an amazing season as the freshmen Charleston Trojans defeated the Cumberland Pirates 50 – 6.

” I saw a big wall of blockers and i just followed them till i saw the outside open up,” said Welsh III. ” It was really wet out there so I just tried to keep my footing.”

The Charleston offense scored a touchdown on it’s first four possessions, to build a quick 30-0 lead in the second quarter. With the rain pouring down the Trojan offense elected to run the football as much as possible, a method that has served them well to this point in the season.

On their first offensive play Larry Welsh III took a halfback dive up the middle and out ran the defenders for a 59 yard touchdown run. Runningmate Robert Farkas then topped the Welsh run with a 69 yard touchdown run on Charleson’s second offensive possesion.  On Charleston’s third offensive possesion The runninng game was once again the focal point of the Charleston attack. Following a Cumberland fumble, Jurgen Huddleston Smith took a quick handoff and ran up the middle for a 19-yard touchdown run.

Welsh III was the main contributor to the Charleston offensive running attack as he ran for 142 yards on four carries. Welsh was able to break off running plays of 59 and 69 yards. He finished the game with 215 all purpose yards (142 rushing yards, 73 kick-return yards) and three touchdowns. Charleston halfback Robert Farkas also had a 69-yard touchdown run, as well as having a fumble recovery. Halfback Jurgen Huddleston Smith had 56 yards and two touchdowns and Ebon Wolf chipped in 41 yards rushing and a touchdown.

“We wanted to come out and establish the run. Our offensive-line dominated the line-of-scrimmage and we were able to get some big runs,” said Charleston Trojans head coach Jeff Miller.

It seemed that the Cumberland offense could literally not hold onto the football. Cumberland quarterback Chris Ruholl had three fumbled snaps on the first four offensive possessions for the Cumberland Pirates. All three fumbles were recovered by Charleston and set their offense up with good field position. The Pirates fumbled the ball five times and their lone offensive touchdown came off their last offensive possession of the game.

” The weather made the ball a little slick and myself and the center have not had much time to work on things,” said Cumberland Quarterback Chris Ruholl.

The Cumberland Pirates only brought thirteen players and some had not played very much together.

” We left some players at home for the varsity squad, if we had the extra players it would have made a difference, but I’m not sure how much,” said Cumberland head coach Bill Ault. ” Charleston has a really good football team and defenses will have to make sure they get a square hit on #42 or he will do some big things.”

The Charleston defense played well, but they might have gotten a helping hand from mother nature. The rain gradually picked up throughout the game and it visibly frustrated the Cumberland offense.

” It was obvious that the weather played a factor. We just couldn’t hold onto the ball and when you don’t take good angles and wrap up your tackles, then big plays are going to happen,” said Cumberland head coach Bill Ault. ” We like to throw the ball about 40 percent of the time and we were unable to get any of that going on.”

With the win the freshmen Charleston Trojans have finished the season 9-0 and have gone undefeated in the Apollo conference for the first time. The young Trojans have been keyed by a strong running game and a blitzing defense that loves to bring pressure from all angles.

” The team is really a very hard working group of players. I think the future is very bright for this team,” said coach Miller.

Freshmen Charleston Trojans practice report 10/21/08-10/23/08

When I went to the Charleston high school football field on Monday there was an unusually calm feeling amongst the freshmen team. Little did I know that starting running-backs Kody French and Chris Creek, as well as starting wide receiver/safety T.J. Bell, were all promoted to the varsity football team. All players were major contributors in the success that the Trojans have experienced this season.

I arrived on the field to the sight of footballs being launched high in the air on punt returns. The team was hard at work at finding a new punt returner to replace Bell. The running-back situation was easier to resolve considering that Charleston was already rotating runners in their previous games.

” I really don’t expect too much of a drop off on the offensive side of the ball. On the defensive side it will just take a little time for players to get comfortable with the scheme,” said Charleston Trojans defensive coordinator Carl Wolf.

Wolf made these comments on Monday, but by Wednesday coach Wolf sounded a little more confident.

” The defense was a little hesitant on Monday, but on Tuesday they were starting to fly to the football,” said Wolf.” I don’t mind if the defense makes mistakes early in the game against Cumberland, as long as they are hustling to the ball. I expect that the defense will be ready to build off of last weeks shutout of Olney .”

For some teams the loss of three starters ( two running backs, one wide-receiver) might rattle the foundation of what a teams about. Charleston will look to overcome these losses to prove that they can overcome adversity and finish the season with an undefeated record.

CHS freshman running game leads to victory over Paris Tigers

Awarded the first possession, Charleston High School’s kick return team took the field. Freshman Larry Welsh III fielded the kick, broke a tackle and made a few moves before sprinting along the left sideline, uncontested, for Charleston’s first score against the Paris Tigers, just 12 seconds into the game. Although only the first play of the game, this play set the tone for the entire game as CHS ran their way to a 34-22 victory over Paris High School.

Running backs Kody French (#27) and Chris Creek (#44) took advantage of the great play of their offensive line, and the not-so-great play of the Paris Tigers defense. Behind a line that allowed basically no penetration in the running game, the dynamic duo of French and Creek dominated a game that was full of missed plays by the Paris Tigers.

After forcing a turnover on downs on Paris’ first possession, the Trojans took the ball over on the opposing 40-yard line and the CHS running game quickly made its presence felt. After a 10-yard run that gave CHS a new set of downs, Kody French took a hand off, broke a couple tackles and was finally taken down after a 28-yard gain that got them onto the Paris’ side of the field. On the next play, running back Chris Creek pounded the ball up the middle for a gain of 10. Although the Trojans did not come away with points on their first drive, they set the tone with a drive that featured a strong running game.

On the other side of the ball, the Trojans’ defense also played well, as the first unit did not give up many big plays, except for a run of about 60 yards by Paris’ freshman running back Scottie Lawrence. After allowing the big run, CHS tightened up their defense and forced another turnover on downs. CHS quickly turned back to their running game, ending the first quarter with five straight rushing attempts in which Kody French and Chris Creek combined for 60 yards. Quickly after the second quarter began, French took a handoff up the middle at the Tigers’ 7-yard line and easily scored, giving the Trojans more breathing room as they improved their advantage to 14-0.

The Tigers’ first offensive drive of the second quarter was a two-play drive that ended with a turnover. On the first play, the Trojans’ 3-5 defensive scheme put the pressure on Tigers’ quarterback Clay Bess (#7), as running back/linebacker Malachi Harpster blitzed and, not being picked up by a blocker, took Bess down for the sack. On the next play running back Lawrence took a carry to the right and was quickly challenged by the Charleston defense and, before going down, fumbled the ball, which CHS recovered at the Tigers’ 20-yard line.

The Trojans’ offense quickly took advantage of the good field position, hauling off four straight carries, featuring a 20-yard run by Chris Creek in which a Tigers’ defender kept him out of the end zone by pushing him out of bounds at the two-yard line. On the next play, Creek pounded a handoff up the middle for a two-yard touchdown run. After their first successful two-point conversion of three attempts CHS extended their lead to 20-0.

On their fourth possession, Paris was forced into another drive that did not feature a first down. Instead, their fourth drive featured an offensive pass interference penalty and three plays that ultimately got them back to the original line of scrimmage, forcing them to punt.

After taking over at the 50-yard line, Charleston’s fourth drive featured four rushing attempts for 50 yards and a touchdown by freshman running back Jurgen Huddleston Smith (#25). After a successful two-point conversion, Charleston went up 28-0, a lead that they took into halftime.

After kicking off to start the second half, the Trojans’ defense quickly got back to business forcing another three-and-out. However, the offense was not as electric as they had been in the second half, failing to score until their third drive of the second half after taking over on the Tigers’ side of the field following a blocked punt by Kody French. After blocking the punt, French ran the ball in much the same way that he had in the first half, running the ball into the end zone for the second time in the game. CHS failed on the following two-point conversion, making the score 34-0.

After most of the Trojans’ first unit was benched, Paris quarterback Clay Bess and receiver Dalton Temples took advantage, hooking up for scores of 60, 70 and 40 yards. However, the Trojans’ lead proved to be insurmountable as they won the game 34-22.

After the game, running back Kody French commented on the running game, which accounted for over 200 yards of offense and four touchdowns, complimenting  the great play of the offensive line. Coach Jeff Miller also commented about the running game.

“Our backs did a great job of hitting the holes,” said Miller.

Paris coach Scott Ball, upset at his team’s performance, said “We didn’t play up to our play potential. We didn’t come to play,” speaking of his offenses ineffectiveness and missed plays.

Charleston, now 3-0, is scheduled to play Robinson High School on September 25 at 6:15 p.m.

Freshman CHS vs. Mt. Zion game canceled due to rain

Tonight’s freshman football game between the Charleston High School Trojans and Mt. Zion High School Braves has been canceled due to the weather conditions. Rain throughout the day left the field wet and open to lots of damage, causing a cancellation.
The game may be re-scheduled.

CHS freshman football team impressive in opening game

     When asked about what he expected from his team Charleston High School freshman football head coach Jeff Miller said “I think we are going to be pretty solid.”

     After an impressive win over Taylorville High School, it seems that the well-experienced coaching trio of Jeff Miller, Cliff Campbell (Special teams coach) and Carl Wolf (Defensive coordinator) have put together a “pretty solid” team. CHS played behind a strong 3-5 defense and got good production from both the running and passing games, leading them to a 38-14 victory.

     After the game Miller said that the CHS freshman team had exceeded all expectations that he had.

Stay tuned for full sports coverage

This fall, you will be able to keep up with all Charleston HS sports through the season. You will be able to get last-minute scores, notes, features, and game stories for each of the school’s varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen sports. Check back after August 29.