Aug 31, 2013 4 min read

CARMICHAELS – Ryan Krull game-planned all week – maybe all his life – for this game.

And it could not have gone any better.

Krull, making his football head coaching debut at Carmichaels High School, got great performances out of quarterback Brandon Lawless, running back Brennen McMinn and wide receiver Tyler Aeschbacher on offense and had to be pleased with a stifling Mikes defense.

The result was a 36-0 victory over Jefferson-Morgan in a Tri-County South Conference game Friday night at Carmichaels High School.

“I never thought about what happened after the first game,” said Krull, who was presented the game ball after the postgame huddle. “In a dream, this is how you want it to be.”

Lawless and Aeschbacher connected for three touchdowns, and McMinn broke off a long run for another, as Carmichaels rolled up 440 yards on 55 snaps. Lawless completed 10 of 16 passes for 243 yards and three TDs, all to Aeschbacher. One came in the first half as the Mikes rolled up a 22-0 lead.

Aeschbacher caught six passes for 215 yards and the three touchdowns. McMinn rushed for 110 yards on 18 carries.

“It was the pinnacle of a team effort,” said Krull, whose Mikes snapped a two-game losing streak to the Rockets and broke J-M’s six-game winning streak in season-openers.

“I can’t say enough how happy I am for the team. Were we perfect? No. Were we good? Yes. We need to get better.”

And the Mikes will have little time to savor this win. Two of the top Tri-County South Conference teams – Frazier and Beth-Center – are up next.

“We’ll celebrate tonight,” Lawless said. “Then, tomorrow, we go back to work.”

Lawless and Aeschbacher hurt the Rockets with a post pattern that produced the first touchdown. It was a play that worked well in the past.

“We ran it in the Waynesburg scrimmaged,” said Aeschbacher, a 6-0, 172-pound senior, “and we scored.”

The second time the two connected was in the third quarter and it covered 28 yards. The final one – a 61-yard strike – came with 9:23 to play and set the Mercy Rule and continuous running clock in motion.

“It was a great win for us,” said Lawless, a 6-2, 188-pound senior. “This is our first game, and it’s a conference game. This can set the tone for the season. Hopefully, it sets the tone for the next two weeks.”

The Mikes built that 22-0 halftime lead on the arm of Lawless, the hands of Aeschbacher and the legs of McMinn.

Lawless and Aeschbacher hooked up on the fourth play of the game for a 76-yard catch-and-run touchdown that put the Mikes up 8-0 before most of the large crowd had settled into their seats.

“I didn’t think the first one was as damaging as the second one,” said Jeff-Morgan head coach Liam Ryan. “We came back on the next drive and moved the ball.”

The Carmichaels defense stopped Jefferson-Morgan’s drive, which covered 43 yards and ate up four minutes. Coty Allen intercepted a fourth-down pass from Rece Henneman at the Carmichaels 10-yard line.

“Our defense did a good job,” said Krull. “And we only had three penalties.”

McMinn stretched the Mikes’ lead to 16-0 when he took a handoff from Lawless and sprinted up the middle of J-M’s defense for the 41-yard touchdown with 41 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Lawless capped the next drive when he rolled left and scored from 12 yards out. That drive was kept alive by a nice catch by Aeschbacher for 15 yards on a fourth-down play from the J-M 31.

“I told our kids that we have to be able to bounce back,” said Ryan. “We’re a young team. We’ve just got to get better. We’ll get back to work and get ready to play Bentworth.”