Rangers fall In opener 10-3
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Forget about one drive or one big play, Carterville's 10-3 win over Benton Friday night came down to one foot.
With the Rangers driving deep in Lions territory with 6:13 left in the third quarter, Carterville came up with the defensive play of the game.
Facing 4th down and a foot, Benton gave the ball to Trey Garrett, but the Lions were able to get penetration and stuff the junior for no gain, turning the ball over on downs.
Just under five minutes later, Lions quarterback Jeff Aldridge scored on an 11-yard run to break a 3-3 tie. The extra point gave Carterville the final 10-3 margin.
"With our schedule, to play at the level we need to play at, we have to be able to block and pick up a foot," Benton coach Jeremy Clodfelder said. "If we get that first down and keep the momentum and score, maybe we win the game 10-3.
"It was a big play and a play we needed to make. Instead, they made a big play, got some momentum and went down and scored."
Aldridge's touchdown was a rarity in a game that was dominated by defense. The teams were separated by just five yards in the game, Carterville gaining 246 total yards of offense, the Rangers 241.
"Our defense played well," Clodfelder said. "I am proud of them. Carterville is a good program and the defense played very well. Take away a freak play where a fumble was picked up and turned into a big play and we really handled things well."
The first half was a battle of attrition by the defenses. The Rangers stuffed the Lions on the opening drive of the game, getting big stops from Hunter Rone and Damon Wilson and a nice combined tackle from Wilson and Landon Stewart to force a punt.
The punt was shanked and traveled just 10 yards, but Benton fumbled on the second play of their initial possession, Carterville recovering.
Garrett intercepted an Aldridge pass to stop the next Lions' drive, but Benton couldn't move the ball and punted back to Carterville.
Johnny Piazza and Landon LaBuwi stuffed Carterville running back Logan Mann for a 4-yard loss on first down, but Aldridge followed with his only two completions of the game - a 4-yarder to Tyler Bundren and a big 32-yarder to Zack Halterman. Garrett broke up the next pass play and Stewart sacked Aldridge for a 3-yard loss, but Carterville regrouped and snuck to the B-4. Rone stopped Mann just short of the goal line on first down and a costly motion penalty on the Lions put the ball back at the B-6. Rone and Jake Harris then stopped Aldridge for no gain on consecutive plays and Zach Bollman was brought on to attempt a 22-yard field goal. Bollman's kick struck the left goal post and bounced away to keep the game scoreless.
The Rangers took advantage of the miss, taking the lead seven plays later.
The big play in Benton's scoring drive was a 66-yard pass play from Leffler to Garrett. Leffler ran the offense well all game, completing 13 of 23 passes for 159 yards. He hit four different targets as well.
"Leffler did a good job of running things," Clodfelder said. "He made good decisions and made some big throws."
Benton had a costly holding penalty, that negated a 13-yard gain by Cody Smith, and had to settle for a field goal attempt three plays later. Senior Tyler Arnett got a little under his kick from 35 yards out, but it snuck over the crossbar for a 3-0 Benton lead with 7:04 left in the half.
Benton stopped Carterville cold on its next drive, getting more good tackling from Rone, Stewart and Harris. But, when the Rangers got the ball back, two more costly penalties stalled their drive. Carterville regained possession and Bollman hit a 24-yard field goal with seven ticks left in the half to tie the game 3-3 at intermission.
"Penalties, penalties, penalties," Clodfelder said. "We had too many penalties in key spots. We can't make mistakes like that."
DeForest started the second half with runs of 17- and 20-yards for the Rangers, but the long drive ended with the missed fourth down play, leading to Aldridge's go-ahead touchdown.
Benton had its chances, though. A deflected pass headed for C. Smith was intercepted with 7:39 lead, but Harris recovered a fumble with 4:34 left in the game.
The Rangers converted two fourth down plays, but eventually ran out of chances, turning the ball over on downs with 1:17 left.
The Lions then ran out the clock for the win.
DeForest led Benton with 36 yards rushing, Leffler and Garrett had 24 yards each. C. Smith had five catches, including a highlight-reel diving catch to keep a drive alive.
"That's why we like Cody out where he is in space and can make things happen," Clodfelder said.
Benton (0-1) will play its home opener Friday night against Sparta. Sparta fell to Columbia 7-6 Friday night.