Sweet shutout: Murphy, Cardinals blank Bismarck St. Mary’s

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BISMARCK — With the first loss of the season in the rearview mirror, Casey Murphy and his defense went right back to work.

Carrington High School’s all-state running back piled up 238 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, and the Cardinals defense intercepted Bismarck St. Mary’s quarterback Trent Bohan six times in an 18-0 West Region win at the Bismarck Community Bowl.

“The guys up front were taking care of business,” said Murphy, a senior. “We tried some new stuff this week (on defense). It was pretty fun for our secondary.”

The Cardinals were coming off a 25-24 overtime loss to Dickinson Trinity the week before.

“That lost to Trinity, that was a heartbreaker,” Murphy said. “The whole week of practice we had a sense of urgency. We needed to get back on the field and take care of business.”

Murphy made sure of that, even picking off Bohan in the end zone to end the game.

Interceptions keyed all the scoring in the first half, as Taylor Skytland’s defensive play paved the way for a 10-play, 96-yard drive that was highlighted by a 57-yard run from Murphy and capped on a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Cole Hendrickson.

On the first play of St. Mary’s ensuing possession, Austin Hewitt stepped in front of an errant throw and returned it to Carrington’s 40-yard line. Six plays later, Murphy punched in from 2 yards out to put Carrington up 12-0.

Skytland and Alex Nelson each had two picks on the day.

Hochhalter pointed to the pressure applied by his defensive line as a big reason for the interceptions.

“He couldn’t sit back there,” Hochhalter said. “We brought a lot of pressure up the middle. I think he threw some balls earlier than he wanted to.”

Murphy opened up the first drive of the second half with a 13-yard run, and followed it with a 57-yard scamper for a touchdown that capped the scoring.

The Cardinals rushed for 393 yards as a team, but did have problems with penalties, getting flagged 12 times for 59 yards.

However, they held St. Mary’s to 178 total yards including just 66 on the ground. More importantly, they forced Bohan into throwing 30 times, completing just 11 passes for 112 yards.

“This is a great win for us,” Hochhalter said. “We feel very fortunate. To come out on the road and get a shutout, we’re happy with that.”

Carrington (1-1 West Region, 2-1 overall) hosts Belcourt on Friday for homecoming. Despite the win, Hochhalter said the loss to Trinity means there’s no room for error the rest of the way if the Cardinals want to repeat as region champions.

“We have to have that sense of urgency,” he said. “That (loss) was a tough one to take.”

Carrington 18, Bismarck St. Mary’s 0

Carrington 0 12 18 18

St. Mary’s 0 0 0 0

C — Cole Hendrickson 1 run (kick failed)

C — Casey Murphy 2 run (pass failed)

C — Murphy 49 run (pass failed)

Individual statistics

Rushing — C, Murphy 26-238, Hendrickson 12-51, Austin Schuldheisz 7-47, Seth Abaurrea 10-15. StM, Robert Richter 10-43, Dillon Reiner 3-15, Trent Bohan 5-8, Trey Grumann 1-1, Tobias Maher 4-(-1).

Passing — C, Hendrickson 2-8-1 42. StM, Bohan 11-30-6 112.

Receiving — C, Alex Nelson 1-34, Austin Johnson 1-8. StM, Brian Obritsch 4-49, Richter 3-40, Grumann 1-9, Byrne Curl 1-5, Darius Sparks 1-5, Maher 1-5.

Turnovers — C, 2 (fumble, interception). StM, 6 (6 interceptions)

Penalties — C 12-59, StM 6-35.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, football, carrington