JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
They are often few and far between, but every once in a while you have one of those games when absolutely everything goes right.
Matt Carty had such a game last Friday night against Conestoga Valley.
Cocalico’s 5-10, 155-pound sophomore was in the zone – on offense and defense.
Making just his fifth career start at quarterback, Carty completed 3-of-5 passes, and all three went for touchdowns:
He tossed an 11-yarder to Trevor Kling, a 75-yarder to Lee Heist and an 85-yarder to Kyle Fisher – all in the first half.
He also had nine keepers for 122 yards and scored on TD runs of 3 and 10 yards – all in the first half, when Cocalico raced out to a 40-13 lead at the break on the way to a 54-26 win over CV, as the Eagles improved to 3-2 in Section 2 and 5-3 overall, and all but locked up a spot in the district playoffs.
Carty also picked off a pair of passes from his safety spot.
For his efforts, he is the New Era Player of the Week.
“Matt is a competitor,” Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich said. “He hates to lose. He’s in the most stressful position on the field, and he handles that stress very well. He’s nice and relaxed out there. He doesn’t get bothered. He might be nervous, but he’s not antsy. He’s relaxed.”
It has showed.
Carty is the top-ranked passer in the L-L League, and seven of his 19 completions this season have gone for touchdowns.
After shredding the Bucks on Friday, Carty sat down with us on Monday and faced the New Era’s Five Questions:
YOU GUYS HAD A MONSTER NIGHT AGAINST CV. WHY SO SUCCESSFUL?
“Everyone came out and did everything right. Our offensive line gave me all the time in the world to throw. They were amazing. They stuck on their blocks the whole game, and gave our running backs big lanes to run through. Everyone was in the right place at the right time.”
ONE OF THE EXPERTS PICKED YOU GUYS TO FINISH LAST IN THE SECTION THIS SEASON. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT PICK NOW?
“We knew nobody expected anything from us, so that sort of took the pressure off early on. And it motivated it us also. We wanted to prove everyone wrong. Our senior leadership has been great. All the seniors have stepped up, and they’re all looking out for the younger guys. And we all believe in our coaches. I know – and we all know – what this team can do.”
KYLE KELLER (948 YARDS, 5 TD) AND KYLE FISHER (896 YARDS, 15 TD) ARE TWO OF THE LEADING RUSHERS IN THE LEAGUE. HOW GOOD HAVE THOSE TWO BEEN THIS SEASON?
“Those guys are having a phenomenal year. It’s really nice knowing that if I’m undecided on a read, I can just give the ball to Keller and he’s going to get four or five yards. And Fisher – if I can get the ball to him on the perimeter … I haven’t seen anyone faster than him. It’s really nice having those guys back there.”
IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE REALLY GETTING A HANG OF RUNNING THE VEER OFFENSE. HOW DO YOU FEEL BACK THERE?
“We ran the same offense in junior high, so I was familiar with it coming in. The toughest part is making the reads, and you have a lot of responsibility running this offense. But you do have a lot of options. It’s challenging, but it’s fun.”
WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE POSTGAME HANGOUT SPOT?
“We usually go to Two Cousins Pizza (in Denver). We went there after the L-S game (a thrill-a-minute 35-34 season-opening victory) and we liked it, so we just keep going there for wings.”
