Carter shines as Generals move to 6-0
There wasn’t a Moon Pie to be seen anywhere on Jeff Sims Field Friday night, but there was plenty of R.C.
More than enough as far as Southeast Whitfield was concerned.
Ryan Carter, an All-State performer a season ago, showed a Homecoming crowd at Heritage High School why he earned the lofty award by putting on a show against the previously unbeaten Raiders in a 61-21 rout.
Carter had just two catches on the night. The first went for a nice 24-yard catch over the top of a defender in the endzone for a score, while the second was a highlight-worthy, 56yard, zigzagging catchand-run that saw him cut back the entire the width of the field not once, but twice, before shaking a final tackler inside the 5-yard line and walking into the endzone.
He also showed off his speed, blazing through the Raiders virtually untouched for a 44-yard punt return for a score late in the first quarter and capped his night with a backbreaking 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 3:57 left in the first half after Southeast had briefly threatened to get back into the game.
“Ryan Carter is a freak and he went off tonight,” Heritage head coach E.K. Slaughter said. “It’s been tough for some of these guys because we’ve had some lopsided games and they have only gotten to play a couple of quarters. They’re trying to make names for themselves. R.C. didn’t get too many touches this week, but we made sure he was known tonight. He’s a special kid.”
Heritage got the anticipated showdown started with a lightningfast 64-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard Jeffery Curtis run. Later in the opening stanza, the Generals sacked Raider quarterback Porter Johnson, forcing a fumble that Ridge Perkins recovered near midfield. Four plays later, Luke Grant took a jet sweep and raced seven yards to make it 13-0.
Carter’s punt return just over a minute later added to the lead and a Johnathan Hickman fourth-down sack at the Southeast 24 set the table for Carter’s first TD catch of the night from quarterback Blake Bryan, who finished the night 11-of-14 for 236 yards and four scores.
Grant then got the ball back for the offense with a spectacular, leaping, one-handed interception on the second play of the second quarter and Carter took it to the house with his second TD catch two plays later to make it 34-0.
The Raiders (5-1, 1-1) finally got on the board with a nice drive, ending with a 1-yard run by Christian Gillespie, and Southeast got seven points closer with 4:17 left in the half as Matt Jennings picked off a Bryan pass and raced 26 yards for the picksix. But Carter knifed through the Southeast kick coverage team moments later and the game was no longer in doubt.
Bryan and Grant hooked up for a 68-yard scoring strike with 2:08 left to send the Generals into the locker room with a commanding 4814 halftime lead.
The Heritage