First-time (signal) caller

Sure, it’s cliché, but outside of penalties and turnovers, football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage.

After turning in a stellar performance at the Carl Junction Jamboree, the Carthage offensive line faced its first test of the season against Central Ozark Conference rival Ozark.

A large crowd greeted Carthage Friday night for the 2009 season opener at Tiger Stadium, but the Tigers, backed by a balanced attack, had little trouble against Ozark.

There were mistakes on both sides, but less by the Carthage Tigers, who came away with a 53-14 victory over Ozark Friday, not a bad compliment by a team that's supposedly "rebuilding" this year.

Carthage’s offensive line, by the way, allowed junior Brian Poston to rush for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Besides a few procedure penalties, Carthage’s offensive line passed its first test with flying colors, according to Jon Guidie, Carthage’s fifth-year head coach.

“They controlled the line of scrimmage,” said Guidie of the Tigers’ young offensive line. “Ozark gave us a couple of different looks up front, but we communicated, stepped up and did a great job.”

After senior Devron Moore was unable to continue with an injury early in the second half, Poston took the ball — and the game — over for Carthage

"Brian ran the ball hard," Guidie said. "He hasn't ran the ball that hard since his freshman year. He's a heck of a player."

For years, critics of the spread offense have argued the system diminishes the power-running philosophy, but the incorporation of the option and zone read concepts have helped revolutionize the scheme over the years. Now, coaches realize you can have a physical run game out of the spread offense, without as much up front.

Case in point: Carthage accumulated 503 yards of total offense, including 301 yard rushing on the ground.

“We wanted to spread (Ozark) out and run the football,” said Guidie. “They weren’t able to do some of things they wanted to and got down. Give credit to our (offensive) line and Brian, they did a great job tonight.”

First-time varsity signal caller Derek Peterson, who passed for 202 yards and one touchdown, also passed his first test.

Peterson led Carthage on a 76-yard drive midway through the first quarter with three passes of 10 yards or more, which set up Moore’s 2-yard touchdown to give the Tigers an early lead.

After Peterson threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to senior Trevor Hole to give the Tigers a 13-0 lead before the end of the first half, Ozark responded with a five-play scoring drive to open the second half.

Zach Hoyt returned the opening kickoff 71 yards to the Carthage 25-yard line. Martin Seaberry put Ozark on the board with a 2-yard touchdown run.

But Carthage responded on its ensuing possession when Moore scored his second touchdown of the game.

“We lost Devron early in the second half, but the kids stepped up and did a great job,” said Guidie.

Ozark, which also uses the spread, would score early in the fourth quarter, but two turnovers and Carthage’s explosive offense proved too much to overcome. Surprising or not, Ozark ran the ball more times than not in the first half, but Carthage’s defense came up with numerous big stops.

“We prepared for that,” said Guidie of Ozark’s early running game. “Coach (Defensive Coordinator Chris) Wilkerson did a great job preparing the kids, and we were able to stop them.”

The Tigers, who racked up 40 points in the second half, including a 26-point fourth quarter, scored eight times on 12 possessions.

Peterson was 13 of 19 and looked impressive managing the Tigers’ offense. The Tigers, by the way, didn’t commit a turnover, which put even more pressure on Ozark.

The Tigers, now 1-0 and 1-0 in Central Ozark Conference play, take on Nixa in the home opener at 7 p.m. Friday at K.E. Baker Stadium.