By STEVE SINISKI
"Everyone's hit their stride but we're still far from peaking," Baldwin coach Steve Carroll said. "Winning on homecoming was huge. That was very big for us, because Uniondale had manhandled Oceanside the week before [28-2]."
Front-and-center in the blowout was the Baldwin ground attack that tore through a muddy track for 401 yards and six touchdowns. In the season-opener, Efosa Guobadia scored four times. Last week, the Bruins attack centered on a pair of junior running backs, Ronny Thomas and Anthony Gibbons, who combined for 301 yards and four touchdowns. Gibbons had scoring runs of 67 and 72 yards, while Thomas found his way into the end zone from 49 and 91 yards out. "The field was a quagmire so we ran the Power-I all day," Carroll said. "We haven't had to open things up yet [in the offense]. Ninety-nine percent of our success is because of the offensive line. They've been opening up huge holes for our backs to run through."
The talk surrounding the Bruins prior to the start of the campaign was of a diverse attack that could stretch the field through the air with quarterback Casey Carroll. Needless to say, he attempted just seven passes (completing three for 27 yards), yet he still kick-started the Bruins rushing foray. It was Carroll who opened the scoring for Baldwin when he audibled, found a seam in the defense, hit the hole and ran 66 yards for a touchdown just 19 seconds after the opening kickoff.
"We have players that we know are successful running certain plays and know who can do what better" coach Carroll said of his team that now has a pair of backs who've each run for more than 300 yards in just two games.
And of course, what would a shutout be without a major contribution from the defense? Baldwin forced four more turnovers, bringing its season total to 11, with Guobadia (one interception) and linebacker Andrew Berg, who was also named the Homecoming King, picking off a pass as well.
"Every time they'd [Uniondale] gain 15 yards, because of penalties or our defense, they'd lose 10 on the next play," Carroll said. "We were able to put pressure on the quarterback and were fortunate to be on the other end of the turnovers."
The Bruins hit the road to take on Oceanside this Saturday at 2 p.m., and the Sailors can't be too happy about their next opponent. Already 0-2, Oceanside has been outscored, 48-16.
"They have a quarterback that can throw," Carroll said of the Sailors. "And if they can connect on a few passes, that could mean some big plays. But our defensive backs are enormously quick and can cover a lot of ground. Plus, if we can get them to work off a short field, it'll be tougher to throw."
