The last time Lawrence North beat the Carmel Greyhounds, George W. Bush was serving his first term as president, Andrew Luck was a freshman in highschool, and the current LN seniors were roughly six years of age. That’s correct, it’s been 12 years since LN won the Bill Duke Pigskin trophy, when the trophy was in its first year of existence. After three straight, slightly embarrassing, lopsided matchups against Carmel, Lawrence North and Al McKeller put on a show to remember.

Once the storm, that turned the skies black and resounded within the halls of Lawrence North, passed, the skies cleared and football was on the horizon. Neither offense seemed all too competitive in the first quarter, exchanging punts after a small combination of first downs. Until the third drive of the game, the Carmel defense stymied McKeller, giving him no room to bust runs. For Lawrence North, the rest is history. McKeller and fellow seniors Elijah Smith and Martell Williams traded off long, tough runs to put the ball inside the Carmel redzone, really keeping the defense on their toes. From there, McKeller punched in his first of three touchdowns on the night, capping the first big drive of the night. Carmel avoided a big mistake on the kickoff, where the returner dropped the ball, recovered by Harold Jones of Lawrence North, but was overturned after the knee of the runner was called down before the ball came out. After that, Camari Hunt took the ball 60 plus yards all the way down to the two yard line before punching it in the end zone one play later. It seemed as though the Carmel defense may have figured out the key to stopping McKeller and the Wildcat offense until senior quarterback Jackson Hamersly brought out the fan favorite flea flicker and hit senior Mark Tunell down field to the 20 yard line. From that point, Smith brought it further inside the redzone until McKeller was close enough to take the ball into the end zone for the second time of the night. Carmel was able to tack on a 41 yard field goal before the end of the half, but the Wildcats held the 14-10 advantage heading into the break. LN recieved the ball to begin the second half and quickly got back to business. Martell Williams ran through the Greyhound defense before McKeller once again found success inside the redzone, hammering home his third touchdown of the night and tenth of the season. The Wildcat defense held the home front throughout the entire second half. Dion Grundy, filling in for suspended Josh Mays, Chauncey Mays and Tyler Majors put pressure on Carmel quarterback Jake McDonald throughout the remainder of the half. Jalen Walker attempted to put the Greyhounds back in the ball game, catching a pass from McDonald and making the ballgame 20-17 in favor of the Wildcats. Elijah Smith had other ideas, silencing the recently risen Carmel supporters with a 56 yard touchdown run on 3rd and short deep in Lawrence North territory. Familiar face and former LN running back Jerome Halsell attempted to bring Carmel closer, but was stuffed at the goal line on 4th down by senior Jordan Holder. McKeller, from there on, put the game on ice with two more first downs after another field goal from Carmel, giving the Wildcats their first Bill Duke Pigskin Trophy win since 2004.

3 Stars of the Game   

• Al McKeller (RB)

• Chauncey Mays (DE)

• Elijah Smith (RB)