Carson Schmidt doubles up as Exeter tops South Western in district opener
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
An unlikely player came through for Exeter in its District 3 Class 5A first-round victory against South Western Friday at Don Thomas Stadium in Reiffton.
Carson Schmidt, who had scored two touchdowns all season, matched that total with two touchdown receptions in the Eagles’ 38-21 victory over the Mustangs.
“I was feeling great,” Schmidt said. “We saw a lot of things we’d be able to pick apart in their defense. Had a lot of quick routes that could work for us and we took advantage of that.”
The usual suspects still did their work: Eric Nangle with 137 rushing yards and a touchdown, Ty Yocum with 148 all-purpose yards and a touchdown and Joey Schlaffer with a leaping 27-yard touchdown grab.
It was the connection between Colin Payne and Schmidt that pushed the Eagles to the win.
“I love that kid,” Payne said. “We’ve been playing together since we were little.”
Schmidt’s 17-yard touchdown catch with 8:59 left in the second quarter gave Exeter a 20-0 lead, crucial considering the Mustangs (6-5) scored the last touchdown of the first half and the first of the second half to cut the lead to six.
Exeter’s Mike Moser hit a 27-yard field goal toward the end of the third quarter to make it 23-14, but the 15-yard strike from Payne to Schmidt on fourth-and-6 sealed the game in the fourth.
“A couple series before we saw a route that could work,” Schmidt said. “We came back to it and I told Colin to trust me and give me the rock. He gave it to me and I just sent the ball to the pylon.”
Payne ran in the two-point conversion and a 17-point lead with 5:47 left had South Western reeling.
Payne finished with 203 passing yards and three touchdowns.
The seventh-seeded Eagles (7-3) piled up 193 yards on the ground with Nangle going for 137 and a score and Yocum 63 and a score. Yocum also had 85 yards receiving, including a 59-yard screen that sparked the 97-yard drive that ended in Schmidt’s second touchdown; Yocum had the P.A. announcer making Larry Csonka references he ran a defender over.
“He doesn’t go down,” Schmidt said of Yocum. “He’s a different beast.”
After South Western turned it over on downs on its next drive Nangle’s 35-yard run put the Eagles in scoring position and Yocum pounded it in from the 3 yard to make it 38-14.
South Western’s Shilo Bivins hit Chris Lesher for a 32-yard score but with only 39 seconds to play it didn’t mean much.
Bivins finished with 62 rushing yards, 184 passing yards and accounted for all three of the Mustangs’ touchdowns.
The Eagles have had some unfortunate run-ins with COVID, having to sit out last week without knowing who they were playing.
“We wanted this,” Payne said. “Last week was tough not having a game. We were practicing but we didn’t really have a game plan to practice. But we were hungry. We have a special group and I’m confident we can keep going.”
Exeter had it’s nine-in-a-row district streak snapped last season as the field was cut to four. The seventh-seeded Eagles will look to make it back to the semifinals like they did in 2019 when they play at No. 2 Manheim Central (9-1) next week in the quarterfinals.
“We know we’ve got a tough opponent coming in and it’s on the road,” Schmidt said. “We’ve got to play a lot better than we did tonight, step up, clean some stuff up and we’ll be good.”
For now the Eagles can sit back and enjoy this victory.
“It’s great,” Schmidt said on the win. “Last home game of the year as seniors. It meant everything for us.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| South Western | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Exeter | 14 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 38 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Exeter | Nangle, 11 run (Moser kick) | 10:36 |
| 1 | Exeter | Schlaffer, 27 pass from Payne (Moser kick) | 8:11 |
| 2 | Exeter | Schmidt, 17 pass from Payne (Moser kick missed) | 8:59 |
| 2 | South Western | Bivins, 9 run (Wasowicz kick) | 1:15 |
| 3 | South Western | Trone, 39 pass from Bivins (Wasowicz kick) | 4:55 |
| 3 | Exeter | Moser, 27 FG | 1:07 |
| 4 | Exeter | Schmidt, 15 pass from Payne (Payne run) | 5:47 |
| 4 | Exeter | Yocum, 3 run (Moser kick) | 2:37 |
| 4 | South Western | Lesher, 32 pass from Bivins (Wasowicz kick) | 0:39 |
Team statistics
| South Western | Exeter | |
| First downs | 9 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 26-88 | 32-193 |
| Passing yards | 184 | 203 |
| Total yards | 272 | 396 |
| Passes | 15-24-1 | 11-20-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 3-1 |
| Punts-average | 4-35.5 | 3-29.3 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-60 | 11-95 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
South Western: Bivins 9-62, Reed 8-19, Trone 2-15, Ogden 1-0, Bull 4-(-4), Lesher 2-(-4).
Exeter: Nangle 19-137, Yocum 8-63, Strauss 1-2, Payne 4-(-9).
PASSING
South Western: Bivins 15-24-1–184.
Exeter: Payne 11-19-0–203.
RECEIVING
South Western: Trone 3-75, Ogden 3-35, Lesher 2-34, Mills 2-15, Wasowicz 2-14, Reed 2-3, Warner 1-8.
Exeter: Yocum 3-85, Schmidt 3-41, Schlaffer 2-44, Nangle 2-10, Strauss 1-23.
INTERCEPTIONS
Exeter: Yocum.