Carr’s Record-Breaking Night Leads Saline to Rout of Dexter

It was one for the history books for Saline quarterback Tommy Carr Friday night.

Carr set numerous school records and put himself in the MHSAA record books with over 500 yards passing and eight TD passes in the Hornets 61-34 SEC Red showdown rout of Dexter.

The eight touchdown passes in a game puts Carr tied for second in the MHSAA record books and he unofficially finished with 508 yards passing on the night which ranks 12^th in the state and a new school record for the Hornets. He also had a rushing touchdown for a ninth score which puts him third in the MHSAA for total TD’s in a game.

Early on it looked like the Dreadnaughts were the team that was going to set offensive records with Dexter jumping out to a 13-0 lead with a two-yard TD run by Cooper Arnedt and an impressive 98-yard drive that was capped off by a 22-yard TD pass from Arnedt to Cole Novara.

The Hornets got things rolling in the second with Carr’s first TD pass of the night to Lincoln Keyes to cut the Dreadnaught lead to 13-6.

Dexter quickly answered with a 33-yard scoring pass from Arnedt to Novara to make it 20-6 and the shootout was on.

The lead was cut to 20-13 with a nine-yard TD run by Carr and after a fourth down stop, the Hornets cut the lead to 20-19 when Carr hit Cruz Hanson with a 19-yard scoring strike.

The Dreadnaughts weren’t done when Arnedt hit Holden Niemi with a TD pass in the final seconds of the half for a 27-19 halftime lead.

The second half was all Carr and the Hornets.

The Saline defense forced three Dexter turnovers in the third quarter and the Hornets capitalized with three Carr TD passes. Two scores went to Carson Cherry and Keyes caught his second of the night to give Saline a 41-27 lead after three.

Dexter got back in the game when Arnedt connected with Novara for their third score of the night to cut the Saline lead to 41-34 early in the fourth, but the Hornets passing game was nearly unstoppable the rest of the way.

Saline struck three times in just over two minutes to blow the game wide open.

Carr hits Austin Abbate with a short TD pass and followed up with his third TD pass of the night to Keyes just moments later. He then hit Abbate with an 80-yard scoring pass with just over three minutes left in the game to make the final 61-34.

Abbate had six catches for 147 yards, Hanson had 11 catches for 137 yards and Cherry had four catches for 96 yards, with Keyes grabbing three TD passes on the night.

Arnedt led Dexter by going 25-35 passing for 352 yards and four TD’s and rushed for one score.

Novara finished with ten catches for 140 yards and three TD’s, while Niemi caught eight passes for 142 yards and a TD.

Oliver Hutchison caught three passes for 29 yards, Brady Arbaugh two for 21, John Michael Jerome had 80 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Saline improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the SEC Red, while Dexter fell to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the Red.

The Hornets hit the road to Monroe Friday night, while Dexter hosts arch-rival Chelsea in a SEC cross over.

Photos by Dawn McCann