A pair of 1-0 Downriver League teams met on Thursday night as Gibraltar Carlson visited Dearborn Edsel Ford for a Week 2 tilt. Carlson entered the game after winning the previous three encounters in one-on-one since the Thunderbirds joined the league in 2018.
Gibraltar Carlson at Dearborn Edsel Ford Football Photo Gallery
That trend continued on Thursday as the visitors, guided by six rushing touchdowns from Cody Britt, took a 42-0 victory over Edsel.
These are back-to-back games in which Carlson (2-0, 2-0 DRL) beat the T-Birds (1-1, 1-1 DRL) by a score of 42-0. The Marauders have now dominated Edsel 172-34 in their four encounters.
“I’m very happy,” said Marauders coach Landon Grove. “Last week I was not happy with the way we ended things in the second half. I challenged my guys this week to put together four full quarters and I think we made it here tonight.
It was a strange start to the match. After Edsel was forced to kick his opening disc, the two teams then traded fumbles on back-to-back games. The latter of the two hosts placed Carlson in the red zone.
This sparked what became Cody Britt’s show for the Marauders. The senior running back posted five of his six rushing scores in the first half, including one for 45 yards early in the second quarter. For the night, he carried the ball 21 times for 207 yards.
Carlson in the last minute of play put him twice in the end zone. After scoring with one minute left, the T-Birds then missed the return of the kickoff that followed in which the Marauders recovered.
Working with a short field, Britt finally hit another with 10 seconds before halftime. Kicker Alec Milley was perfect on the PAT Thursday night.
Edsel Ford coach Lee Grizzell was visibly frustrated after the loss, especially after the way his side built up muscle in a Week 1 win over Southgate Anderson.
“Tonight a lot of mistakes have piled up into even more mistakes,” Grizzell said. “Not being able to deal with adversity is something this group of kids have struggled with. They did a good job last week (against Anderson) but you can’t make those mistakes against a good team like (Carlson).
It was a struggle for the T-Birds from the start. A number of bad snaps resulted in an inability to consistently move the ball across the pitch. But Grizzell after the game highlighted another key issue he had.
“Offensively we have to see our line pull more on the ball,” said Grizzell. “We have some tough big players up front, but they just aren’t shooting the ball right now. I’m not sure if any part of that is still uncomfortable with the new offense and not sure what their job is, I hope that’s it.
“It’s a lot of things that can be trained, so we’re going to go back and watch the movie and put them in a better position for next week.”
When it comes to the Marauders, Grove knows this is a small sample of games played and is well aware of the tough challenges ahead, starting with next week at home against a tough Allen Park side. But the first-year head coach is very encouraged by the way things are going.
“I’m very happy so far we’ve got some of the best kids you could ask for,” Grove said. “They are very coachable and have been receptive to me and our coaches and what we preach. We tell our guys to keep making linear progression and if we do, then the cap is really high. “
Elsewhere around the DRL on Thursday, Allen Park topped Taylor High 40-6 while Woodhaven took a 46-0 victory over Lincoln Park and Trenton topped Southgate Anderson 42-0. Wyandotte Roosevelt played in a non-league game at Waterford Mott and lost the score 37-14.
-FOLLOWING-
Both teams will resume play on Friday, September 7, with each kicking off at 7 p.m.
Carlson will host Allen Park (2-0, 2-0 DRL) in a key clash. The two did not meet last season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Marauders are just 4-14 against the Jaguars, but have won two of the last three games.
Carlson is now aiming for a 3-0 start for the second straight season and the third in the past five years.
Edsel, meanwhile, will stay at home and host at Lincoln Park (0-2, 0-2 DRL). It will be the 33rd meeting of all time between the two teams. The T-Birds have won three straight games since 2018 and have a 20-12 advantage over the Railsplitters.
Edsel over the past 10 seasons has had a three-game winning record just three times, most recently in 2017.
