Behind The Bench
Ep: 147 – Reality versus paper, league play and another rivalry matchup
Carter Eckl and Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. give their thoughts on how the 101st anniversary of the Carson-Douglas football rivalry played out. Both teams shift their focus into league play, allowing the duo to look ahead at what's next for the Senators and the Tigers for the next few weeks. To close, the BTB crew talk about Dayton football's win over Battle Mountain along with soccer results from the past few days before closing with Carson-Douglas volleyball set for Tuesday night.
- Broadcast on:
- 17 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
(upbeat music) - Welcome back to another episode of Behind the Bench with Carter Echol. This episode, 147. I'm your host, Carter E joined as always by my producer, Jeff Mulvahill Jr. Jeff, you know, obviously we're gonna lead with Carson Douglas football here, but I think I gotta get out in front of this 'cause I heard this a few times. I guess the old commentator, curse struck in this past weekend with Douglas beating Carson 47 to 13. We spent pretty much the majority of last week's podcast talking about how close we thought that game was gonna be and, you know, it's fine if you wanna blame us here at the newspaper for jinxing it, then I guess I can roll with that. But yeah, Douglas football takes down Carson 47, 13 in a pretty impressive display from the Tigers. Jeff, I guess to start with this, do you believe in the commentator curse? - To our defense, we also said, you need to come witness because something always happens and something happened. It was remarkable. - Well, unless they don't play, I guess something always is gonna happen. - Yeah, but yeah, that was something else. That was, that was. - Douglas jumped in 37-0 before Carson was able to get on the board, Senator, or excuse me, the Tigers blocked a field goal, returned it for a touchdown to start the game and then forced several turnovers, quickly took a 21-0 lead. The first quarter was even over. Then 24, 27, 30 into halftime. Douglas got the ball out of half and I think it was really the only drive where they had to go the length of the field and they did so, going 80 yards and I believe it was just about 12 plays and capped that off with a touchdown and got 37-0. Carson was able to strike back, Drake hardcastle hit Zach Eaton for a nice touchdown pass. I think it was 34 yards, it was a nice throw, pretty much where only Eden could get it and he made a nice catch. He now leads the team in touchdown receptions to this season. But Douglas went right back down the field and scored and then Carson was able to score one more time as literally as the clock expired in the fourth quarter for that 47-13 final. Britain, Weston, have yourself a day, kid, like, I mean, once again, it feels like it's becoming a weekly thing, talking about him, gonna have a feature story coming on him here this coming weekend. Douglas's wide receiver kicker defense of extraordinaire, he had six catches, 141 yards and three touchdowns on the receiving side of things. He also blocked that field goal that Douglas was able to return for a touchdown and he was four for four in kicking field goals with a long of 50, which I was told is only one yard short of the program record at Douglas and he hit that 50-yard field goal in the first half. I think I've said this a couple times, he is quickly becoming, if not already, Jackson over his favorite target out wide and man, when he gets the ball in his hands, he's capable of making guys miss and they get, I mean, don't get me wrong, Douglas has a few players that can do that, but it's a little more obvious when they're able to get the ball to Weston as often as they are and he just makes things work and had at least, man, I wish I hadn't remembered this off the top of my head, but at least their first touchdown, if not their second, offensive touchdown, I should say, 'cause obviously the blocked field goal return for a touchdown was their first one, but just really an impressive display from Douglas all around. I think there's been a lot of rumbling about how close Douglas's games were against three A opponents and where those exactly stacked up as far as quality. But I think as we've seen over the last two weeks, this Douglas team is just really starting to click and it's easy to say after one week that, oh, well, they don't look that good or oh, it's a team that is figuring things out, they're still meshing and sometimes you do see that that is the case and sometimes it's not and for the Tigers, I mean, it sure looks like they're on the verge of being a pretty decent threat in the 5A Div 2 this year and they will play Reno this coming weekend who is his 2-in-1 Wolfpack fans should recognize somebody on the Reno sideline, Carson Strong, former Nevada quarterback is Reno's offensive coordinator there. They, the Huskies are a good team, like I said, they're sitting at 2-in-1, they beat Galena 32-7 a couple of weeks ago, obviously Reno did not play last week along with a few other Northern Nevada teams just because of the fire out there. But very curious to see that one from Douglas's perspective, it's a good litmus test for them to start 5A Div 2 play and, you know, like I said, the Tigers at the moment, expect them to probably finish middle of the pack, I don't, Minogue and Reed will be, will be your two toughest tests there in the 5A Div 2, but everybody else seems kind of beatable and that's not to say it can't go the other way too, like I'm not, I'm not trying to sit here and say all these Reno teams are, are screwed or anything like that, but it does look like a Tiger team that could be playing for one of the top seeds in the 5A Div 2 and we'll see how things shake out. It's so weird to sit here and say like, okay, rivalry game was great, wipe it clean, slight, doesn't matter anymore, like it's very unusual. Carson can, you know, lost by 34, it can be this real deflating loss or whatever, like league records are the only ones that matter at this point and going 5 and 0 in league will get them promoted to the Div 2 and then Carson Douglas will be a league game again and they'll be playing at the end of October or early November or whenever that game normally is, but as far as like how the rest of the season shakes out, if that's a lost Carson is able to kind of push aside, it doesn't affect anything else. Carson has going on the rest of the season other than bragging rights, which obviously both teams want. I'm not trying to downplay the rivalry by any means, but just in terms of league play and where your focus goes the rest of the season, it is a game that they are able to kind of go, okay, whatever, forget it and move on. And they get a great chance to do that. They welcome Hug to Town, that being Carson this Friday. Hug's been outscored 185 to six this season and the Hawks are 0 and 4. So it's a good, good get right game for the Senators. That game, you know, could be, could be kind of ugly by the time it gets in the late there and then, you know, Carson after that will play Wooster at home and Wooster's been outscored 177 to 27 this season. So Carson's got a real good chance to start league play 2 and 0. And again, I don't mean this to demean any of either of those two teams, but I think losing to Hug or Wooster would definitely throw up some red flags there as far as just of, oh, you know, maybe this, you know, we talked a lot about what they looked like at 3 and 1 and how impressive they had been. But yeah, these are the games you got to take care of, right? And you see it all the time, you know, it did. That's why they play. You never know what you can see on any given game. And but these two games will be big for Carson to try to start league play 2 and 0 before getting into those kind of the teams that we expected to beat the top of 5A Division III between Carson, North valleys, Galena and Demani and then Hug and Wooster kind of those, those bottom two teams, at least based off the looks of it as of now, obviously that can change really only 5 games into a 10 game season. So plenty to look forward to there. Any other takeaways, Jeff from Carson Douglas or what you think either team might might have the rest of the season. I was impressed with Douglas, you know, not the greatest of all football fans, but they they seemed very well prepared. And I have, that's the first time I had seen them this season. So they seem very prepared, not that Carson wasn't prepared, but Douglas just came out like a mob and just went at it and went, you know, playing Friday night lights, going at it. So anxious to hear how the rest of their season goes. And especially like the game against McQueen. It's an obvious comparison Carson versus Douglas with Carson just beating McQueen two weeks ago. So it should be a good football season for both teams. Yeah, I think I'm I'm fascinated to see where both teams go and league play. Like I said, it is not out of the room of possibilities that Carson is your team coming up out of 5A Division III. This year, that will be determined, you know, here in a couple of weeks, we've got a got a few weeks to figure that out, but I think we've said that already a few times on the podcast that it is it is entirely possible that Carson Douglas are playing league games again next year and not because Douglas is coming down because Carson could could go up. And we'll see, right? I mean, that Galena team has shown some some real fire at times this season. Dimani, I think, is a bit of a question mark. North valleys and Carson split their last two meetings last year. I know they were both close games with North valleys winning that playoff game at the end of last season. So yeah, very curious to see where things go from here. I think it should should be a fun rest of the football season. And I think you could still see two very competitive teams here between Carson and Douglas, even if the rivalry game didn't necessarily have all the flair and excitement going back and forth that we may have predicted going into this past Friday. But, you know, that's how it goes sometimes. And Douglas took advantage of turnovers. You know, we talked a lot. And I've talked a lot with Carson head coach Ryan Boseard that protecting the football for the Carson offense is a must and just didn't do a great job of that. And turnovers will kill you. I mean, pick a sport, right? It doesn't really matter if you commit a bunch of turnovers. The other team is going to be able to typically be able to take advantage and just put yourself in some tough spots. And Douglas was able to capitalize on that. So the 101st anniversary of the rivalry game is now behind us. I guess we'll look forward to 102 next season. And we'll see if it's, again, another, you know, weird week, four week, five matchup, or if it's going to be at the end of the year and have even more stakes than it usually does. But Douglas has now won five of seven in the rivalry over their last seven meetings. So just a little-- one more stat for the road for you Carson Douglas rivalry fans. Anyways, Dayton football went and beat Battle Mountain. This past Friday, 28 to six. Dayton is now two and two on the year. They are independent this season. Two sophomores had really nice games for the Dust Devils. Duke Evans ran for 215 yards on the ground and a touchdown. And a quarterback at River Aton was 11 of 19 for 89 yards to the air with two scores. A good win for the Dust Devils who will be back at home this Friday against Hamilton, a team from California. They are two and one coming into that game as well. So something to keep an eye on there with Dayton football and seeing where they are able to go with this season as independence. You know, I shifted off of Carson Douglas football, but we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to Carson Douglas rivalry. In fact, we're taping this here Tuesday morning around 9.50 AM. Carson Douglas volleyball plays tonight in Minden. The Senators have won three in a row when it comes to the volleyball rivalry. But Douglas has won 11 to the last 15. So, you know, just from what I was able to find on Max Preps, this rivalry's been very streaky. It's one team kind of dominates for a little bit. And then the other team takes over and they kind of dominate for a little bit. But given Carson's won three in a row, but Douglas has taken 11 to the last 15, you could kind of see just how how streaky that is. You know, Douglas was able to win nine in a row from 2018 to 2021. And now maybe you're seeing a little bit of that shift back to Carson. Carson comes into this game tonight with an 11 in one record. They did not get to play last week due to the fire pushing a couple of those games. So, you know, Carson Bishop Minogue, I think we teased last week on the podcast that has been pushed toward the end of September. And then I believe they were all supposed to play Galena. And that has been pushed into the final week of September as well. But I'll have your coverage from Carson Douglas volleyball tonight. And then, of course, stuff up online this evening when that game concludes. If you're listening to this on Tuesday, if you're listening to this on Wednesday, be sure to check that out. Dub, dub, dub, dot Nevada Peel dot com back slash news back slash sports there. And that's also where you can find all your recaps and stuff from Carson Douglas football. If you're curious to read more about that and see some of the quotes there, but also where you can find Carson Douglas volleyball results from this evening. Jeff, another game we were both at this Saturday, right after the end of football. We got to see Carson boys soccer against Damani. They fell one zero to the Mustangs who only came into that game with one win. I think you'd probably echo head coach Pedro Chavez's comments afterwards, or he said it was a game that Carson lost that he felt like they controlled that game for the most part and just weren't able to get that final goal. Damani scored in the second minute. And that was the only scoring for the day in a one zero win for the Mustangs. But I'm curious what you saw in your kind of takeaways from that particular game. Yeah, I would. I would agree because we were. I mean, it was just Damani was just getting the shelled. So that much pressure and you can fend it off for so long and they did. So not being able to put it in the back of the net. It's especially, I mean, getting scored on the first couple of minutes. That's I mean, we saw in the football game, same same idea. It gets scored on in a strange fashion and you weren't expecting it. And it's like wake up boys. Let's go. We got to play. So trying to come back, it's very difficult in high school soccer. Yeah, it can be deflating given up points, goals, a set, whatever sport you're playing. I mean, deflating giving up that first kind of like big momentum swing. As I say, that is a I believe in momentum scientifically speaking, but sports is a little different. But yes, you're absolutely right. Like giving up a goal that quickly, giving up a score that quickly can can can be very deflating and tough to tough to bounce back from Carson does return home this Wednesday. It gets McQueen Carson is four four and one this season McQueen will come into that game at at two three and one. I'm guessing curious, have you seen anything from McQueen boys yet at all this season? And what would you what would you be expecting for Carson boys, you know, if they're focused on on them going into Wednesday's game? They need to attack. I have not seen McQueen boys play, but that's one thing I would say from Saturday is their attack wasn't familiar from what we've seen in other games. They like to go fast and move up the field quickly and I didn't see that same flair that we normally see. And I wasn't really paying attention to what Damani was trying to do to to stop that idea. You know, trying to take photos and trying to analyze the game gets a little interesting sometimes, but I would expect them this is they got to win this game. I mean, we're we're into league games now and the crut they the the boys switch this year to the two league format. So you play everybody nearly twice and you play everybody on the other side once and they all count. So these games count. So they've got to make sure that they're getting these wins then it's a Carson boys team that didn't start the season full at full strength for for a number of reasons. They are now at back at at full strength. You know, I guess I'm curious just from your your soccer background is that something that you think kind of takes a little bit of time. I mean, certainly it takes, you know, not going to come out first game and just look amazing like everybody's been playing together the whole time. But you know, obviously these are kids that have played together before. It's not necessarily their first experience on the field together. Well, they've they've practice has been as a unit, but the problem with that is as you get to pregame and that kind of thing, you're really focusing on who I can put on the field. And that that kind of slows the pace of things a little bit. But with everybody healthy and everybody eligible to play, I'm expecting them to go home with a win from this one for sure. Some more Carson news that you can also find online as well to new hires for Carson athletics on for spring sports, Elise McGowan takes over as Carson's softball head coach. She was the JV coach last year. She'll take over for Scott Vickery, who was in charge of the center softball team for the past three seasons. And then on the swimming side, Adrian Wacker will take charge of the Carson swimming team taking over for a longtime coach, Monica Weaver, who announced at the end of last season that that would be her final campaign in charge of the senators, both new coaches are Carson high grads. And you were telling me ahead of the podcast that Wacker was also a swimmer at the University of Nevada. Yeah, she's swimming in Nevada for one year. I just talked to her. We were at back to school night. She's a teacher at the school, so she's she's one of my daughter's teachers. So and her daughter actually plays on the soccer team as well, so close ties with with her. So it was it was fun listening to her because I'm thinking back to my my experience and at San Jose State and her experience and we were almost at the same time. So it was it was kind of fun to hear. Yeah. So two Carson high grads taking over two new spring sports there. Like I said, you can if you look for more information, you can find that online www.navada appeal.com backslash news backslash sports. Jeff, I've done a good job of avoiding talking about the San Francisco Giants on the podcast this year. This will be this be quick before we get out of here. I don't know if I have a whole lot to say, but I was updating you after so they've kind of fallen apart. I haven't really paid attention the last really since September started. I've kind of kind of tuned this team out. They never really felt like a team that had postseason a push postseason push in them. They had never really been able to get above 500 for all that long. Their longest win streak of the year of this of this entire season, four games just never quite been never quite been the team with with it, right? That with that that mojo at any point where you're like, you know, this team seem might have a shot at doing something special. Nah, I don't I don't think the Giants ever had that this year. They're now six or seven games below 500. They've really fallen off a cliff and the athletics Andrew Baggerley reported on Sunday evening for anybody who maybe a Giants fan who missed this kind of a leak that only comes out when things start and get real hairy in the front office. It was the the story in essence was that the Giants ownership, which is Buster Posey, is also a part of Giants ownership, had grown so frustrated with Farhan's IIT, the Giants president of baseball operations, GM is not quite the same term as in other sports, but your Pobo or president of baseball operations is kind of that guy. And the reporting that came out Sunday night was that the ownership group in Buster Posey have grown so frustrated with with Farhan's way of doing things that they went around him and negotiated the recent contract extension with Matt Chapman, which is look, this is the analogy I made when before we started, we live in fire country. When there's that much smoke, Jeff, what is there usually there's usually fire and there's that much smoke billowing out of out of the woods, usually something's on fire and man, I haven't found anything to say, you know, when there's these kind of leaks, somebody's usually losing their job and boy oh boy, does it seem like that's going to be the case that is how many more so they got what three more or two more weeks of season. Oh yeah, if that they're at 72 and 78. Yeah, they've probably got nine 10 games left or right around there, so they won't be making the post-season. No, they're they're not officially eliminated yet, but I they would I mean they'd have to win all 10 and need another team to lose nine of 10 it's it's pretty much impossible. Yeah, they may they may still technically have a chance, but I don't think so actually they're probably eliminated at this point. Like I said, I've kind of tuned out the last few weeks. There hasn't really been much as way of like positive things to focus on. And you've been to one game this year? I've been to a couple. I've been to four, I think it was all in one weekend, but yeah, okay. I was going to give you a hard time because my dad's been to two and he's he's he's like the most non-baseball person on the whole earth, but his his brother is a huge Giants fan. He took him to two games this year, so I think I can take credit for that four game win streak that the longest because there was they beat the Colorado Rockies all four games I was there. In fact, it might have been like the high point of the season because Blake Snell had kind of started figuring things out as a pitcher and struck out like 15 hitters at one of the games I was at, which is the most the Giants have had in a while. I don't remember any of those stats off the top of my head. That was from July. But yeah, for anybody who's a who's a baseball fan, it might be a Giants fan. Maybe a change of front office here coming this off season. So well, I guess I'll keep you guys updated. You can get that news elsewhere. You don't need it from from me here at the Nevada appeal, but it was like I said, it was something at some point I was going to talk about because I know we've talked about it in previous we've talked about the Giants in previous years and they haven't been worth talking about this year. But like I said, once you start seeing leaks like this and sources saying that they're the ownership is this frustrated with with the way the front office handling things. Well, the ownership is the one who hires the front office. So it doesn't take a whole lot to connect those dots. Anything else for a shift? Anything else you think worth touching on before you'd out of here? Nope. We're just in the thick of now we're starting league for almost every sport locally here. So that will be things that start to matter and they're important. Yeah. I believe I saw a tweet from the NIAA not too long ago that we are at the halfway point of false sports, which doesn't feel right. I feel like some are just ended kind of crazy to think that we are at the halfway point of false sports, but we are. So that's going to do it for episode 147. We'll catch you guys next week as we begin the second half of the false sports slate. And like I said, you can find all your stories, recaps, feature stories, and everything else in between online at www.devatapeel.com/news/sports. That's going to do it for this episode for Jeff Mulvahill on Carter Echol. We will catch you guys next week. Take it easy. [MUSIC]