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.
