The Carroll Chargers defeated the Penn Kingsmen 41-30 on Friday night in impressive fashion. Entering the fourth quarter, Carroll was trailing Penn 30-21. With 9 minutes to go in the game, Carroll’s junior quarterback Gabe Frisinger completed an 80-yard pass to Harrison Scheele for a touchdown. They failed to convert the two-point conversion, so the score remained 30-27, but the Chargers weren’t finished. They managed to score again and take the lead just four minutes later with a 30-yard touchdown run by Frisinger. Junior running back Asher Wagoner would take it to the house from 30-yards out for one of his three rushing touchdowns on the night to secure the victory on the road for Carroll.
Head coach Doug Dinan was very excited about the way his team played on Friday at Penn. He spoke to me about his seniors stepping up in clutch moments to help lead the team to victory.
“Penn is a very good football team that played well all night. Our kids showed great resolve and determination to persevere through adversity. Our seniors did a great job of leading and we got outstanding productivity from many key players at key moments,” Coach Dinan told us.
Coach Dinan also went to X to break the news of Jaidon Vanpelt setting a new program record in the victory.
“Congratulations to Jaidon Van Pelt, who surpassed the single-season receiving record for most receptions (66) and most yards (1365) in a season,” Coach Dinan posted.
There was so much to be impressed about with the Chargers on Friday night. Because of their resilience, they were able to score 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to secure their spot in Semi-State next week. Frisinger led the way on offense, completing 21 of 34 passes for 424 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for 102 yards and a rushing touchdown as well. He found his primary target Jaidon Vanpelt on multiple occasions. Vanpelt finished with nine receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown. Scheele also had a big game with six catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Although their stats stood out, it was a total team effort that allowed them to come out with the victory. Huge sacks by Evan Brubaker and Jackson Rhodes helped apply the needed pressure to get Carroll back in the game. Also, two huge interceptions late in the game by Coleman Tipton and Linkoln Grabner. I was able to catch up with both Frisinger and Vanpelt to talk about this huge victory.
“I’m just really proud of our guys for not giving up when we got down in the fourth quarter. We were able to take what they were giving us, and I just got the ball to our playmakers. That just lit a spark for our defense as well to get some great turnovers to close the game out,” Frisinger said.
“Coming from our last game knowing where I was just a decoy, I had to step up this game. Of course, it was a very competitive game from both us and Penn. There were some times we were down, but we just knew not to give up yet until the clock hit all zeroes. Gabe (Frisinger) led a huge part in our offensive success by not just passing but running for 526 total yards, and all our wide receivers had a good game to exploit open holes in their defense. Our defense made so many crucial stops when we needed them the most with big interceptions from Coleman Tipton and Linkoln Grabner to seal it,” Vanpelt stated.
After the huge victory for Carroll, they reach Semi-State for the first time since the 2022 season. That year they went to the State Championship, but lost to Center Grove 35-9. Next Friday, the Chargers will host the 10-2 Westfield Shamrocks in Semi-State for another chance to play at Lucas Oil Stadium for a Class 6A state title. The winner of that matchup will await either Brownsburg or Warren Central in the state title game.