WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carthage College Red Men overcame three first half turnovers to spoil Carroll University's homecoming festivities, defeating the Pioneers, 38-14, Saturday at Carroll's Schneider Stadium to retain the Old Musket as the two teams renewed the rivalry with the in-state foe.
 
The win moves Carthage football to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while dropping Carroll to 0-4 and 0-2 in the CCIW.

"We are excited to get the victory," opened head coach Mike Yeager following the game.  "We did what we needed to do to win but need to clean up the turnovers on offense as well as the missed tackles on defense.  But all in all we played pretty well today."
 
Carthage opened the scoring in the first quarter on their second drive as Kyle Friberg found Javier Rhoades alone in the end zone as the pocket collapsed and Friberg improvised rolling sneaking through the pocket.  The touchdown was the first of Friberg's career in his first career start.
 
On the quarterback play Saturday Yeager said, "Kyle did a nice job today.  He went 9-of-10 on the day.  Ethan Olles was 9-of-16 also.  So we had really good quarterback play out of both and am happy for them."

Following a defensive stop by the Red Men on the Pioneers' next drive, Carthage fumbled for the second time Saturday giving Carroll the ball deep in the Red Men's territory.  Carroll took advantage immediately as on the first play Kyle Burlingame connected with Brandon Ehrke for a 28-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7.
 
The tie only lasted 12-seconds as on the ensuing kickoff junior James Cobbs returned the kick 97 yards for a touchdown.  It was Cobbs' first career kick return touchdown and the first by a Red Men returner since Danny O'Donnell returned a kick 95 yards on September 20, 2008 at Lakeland College.
 
From there it was all Carthage the remainder of the half as the Carthage defense held Carroll to just 107 total yards of offense and only four first downs.  Led by K.J. Simpson with four tackles in the half, the defense held Burlingame to just four completions in the half and recording one interception by Moaso Bumba.  Simpson finished with five tackles including one for loss.
 
Bumba's return set the Red Men up for their next scoring opportunity as Carthage started the drive at the Carroll 24.  Five plays later Nick Anzelmo, lined up in the wildcat formation, took the snap over the left side and crossed the goal line and after the Lance Unland PAT Carthage led 21-14.
 
Jamel Davis was next Red Men to punch one into the end zone as Davis finished off an 11 play, 89 yard drive with a four yard rush up the middle to send Carthage into the locker room at the half up 28-7.
 
Davis was Carthage's leading rusher on the day, carrying 15 times for 58 yards followed by London Townsend with 10 for 34 yards, Lafayette McGary with nine for 30 and Anzelmo finished with five for 19 yards.
 
Out of the break the Carthage offense continued to roll as Friberg connected with Cobbs on a fade route along the left sideline in the end zone for Friberg's second TD pass of the game and Cobbs' second all-purpose touchdown.
 
Friberg finished the day 9-of-10 for 114 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.  The Red Men totaled 372 yards of total offense in the win.
 
Lance Unland pushed the score to 38-7 with his first field goal of the day coming with 2:46 remaining in third quarter as Unland connected from 30 yards out.  Unland finished perfect on the day, going 1-for-1 on field goals and 5-of-5 on PAT's.
 
In the second half the defense put up another solid performance, once again holding the Pioneer offense to just 107 yards, only allowing a touchdown late in the fourth quarter when the game was no longer in doubt.
 
"Our defense played really well today.  We did a nice job responding to the turnovers in the first half and only letting Carroll get into the end zone that one time in the first quarter against the first group.  So it was a good day on that side of the ball."

The defense had their best pass rush of the season against Carroll, recording six sacks and limiting the Carroll passing game to just 12-of-30 passing for 142 yards and two interceptions; the second coming by safety Amani Dennis in the third quarter.
 
Now, midway through the season, the Red Men hit their bye week before returning to action on the road at Langhorst Field when Carthage faces Elmhurst College Saturday, October 15th at 1:00 p.m.