The Riptide used power running to pick up its first varsity win in program history last season at Modesto Christian.
Last Friday, it faced MC again while seeking its first-ever home victory and a much-needed first win of the season.
This time, with workhorse fullback Alex Henry III out with injury, River Islands (1-2) leaned on the playmaking abilities of its transfer quarterback for the milestone moment. Carpenter completed 18 of 28 passes for 258 yards, three touchdowns while coming no turnovers in the Riptide’s historic 30-14 victory. He also rushed for a couple big gains but wound up with just 22 yards, losing a chunk of his production on three kneel-downs in the end.
“Daryl is a big-play machine,” River Islands coach Nick Hardenbrook said after the game. “He works with what is given to him, and he likes to get the ball down the field.”
Carpenter put all of his skills on display during a wild second quarter in which the two teams combined for 36 points. The Riptide led 22-14 at halftime and never trailed.
On River Islands’ second drive of the second quarter, Carpenter scrambled for a 29-yard gain and later hit Christian Dell’Osso in the back-corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. His conversion pass to tight end Gabriel Esqueda pushed the Riptide’s early lead to 16-0.
Carpenter showed off his escapability on the next offensive series. He first scrambled out of danger and targeted Michael Figueroa for a 29-yard connection. The same combination struck again on the next play, as Carpenter evaded the pass rush flung it to Figueroa for a 36-yard TD.
Carpenter was not finished yet.
He gave River Islands some needed breathing room with about 9 minutes left in the game. On fourth-and-13 in the red zone, Carpenter somehow wriggled out of a sack attempt, rolled to his left and threw an off-balance pass to running back Jordan Acaya between the hashes. Acaya did the rest, bowling over a defensive back for the 15-yard, catch-and-run TD. Carpenter hit Acaya again on the conversion to cap the final score.
As effective as he was outside of the pocket, Carpenter wants to be more comfortable making passes from inside the pocket. That will be a focus this week when the Riptide has its bye heading into Mother Lode League action. It starts the MLL schedule Sept. 19 at Big Valley Christian, then faces defending tri-champions Calaveras, Linden and Summerville in succession.
“I definitely need to stay in the pocket more,” Carpenter said. “We’re going to work on the run game, the pass game — everything. We’re about to go into the hardest part of the season, so this bye week is really going to prepare us.”
