Daily Pilot High School Football Player of the Week: Carmichael leads Edison past Sailors
Jack Carmichael and his older brother, Kenny, are close.
“We’ve shared a room our whole lives,” Jack said. “That’s where [the] competition comes in. We’re always fighting for more room, more space. I sleep right next to the guy pretty much. It’s terrible.
“He’s a light sleeper. I’m a heavy sleeper. He has to sleep through my snoring. He tries to get on me, but we’re both the same size now.”
One area the Carmichael boys don’t share is the same side of the football field for Edison High.
Jack runs the ball. Kenny tackles whoever has the ball.
The Carmichael who plays offense turned in quite a performance last week. Jack scored four touchdowns in the Chargers’ 48-7 rout of Newport Harbor in a Sunset League opener at Huntington Beach High.
The younger Carmichael rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns, and he had three receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown. The rushing and receiving yards are career highs for Carmichael, who is in his first year as Edison’s starting running back.
Carmichael, who is 6-foot-2, runs high, something Coach Dave White tells him he needs to change. The running style works for Carmichael, who also appeared on his way to finding the end zone a fifth time last week.
Carmichael only carried the ball once in the second half, on the Chargers’ second possession. With the offense backed up inside its 10-yard line, Edison ran Carmichael on first down and he went left, bolting up the Newport Harbor sideline, but the Sailors pushed him out of bounds once he crossed midfield.
“I should have finished,” Carmichael said of the run that gained 49 yards.
Carmichael’s night was over early. He sat the rest of the second half.
Thirteen carries are all Carmichael had, the same amount he totaled in his last game a couple of weeks before against Mater Dei. Those 13 carries against the Monarchs resulted in only seven yards.
The Chargers didn’t score in that one, as they suffered a 42-0 loss, their first shutout in nine years. The following week was Edison’s bye, giving Carmichael and the Chargers time to regroup.
“We just had to show that we were still a team,” Carmichael said. “We had to bounce back.”
White said he was concerned about the time off, believing the Chargers could be rusty to start league. Those worries went away because of Carmichael’s play in the beginning.
Edison called Carmichael’s number on five of its first six offensive plays. The first four featured runs by Carmichael, good for 25 yards. When the offense didn’t turn to Carmichael on a third-and-four situation on Newport Harbor’s 32, the Chargers failed to move the ball.
The Chargers decided to go for it on fourth down, and they made sure Carmichael touched the ball. Quarterback Griffin O’Connor went to Carmichael on a screen pass to the left, fooling the defense. Carmichael caught the pass all alone and easily completed the 32-yard touchdown play.
Carmichael’s next three scores came in a second quarter in which Edison outscored the Sailors, 28-0. He rushed in for a six-yard touchdown 11 seconds into the quarter, and almost four minutes later, Carmichael made it into the end zone from 10 yards out. The final touchdown was a two-yard run, helping give Edison a 35-0 lead with eight seconds left before halftime.
White doesn’t expect the same lopsided score this Friday, when defending league champion Edison (5-1, 1-0 in league) travels to play Los Alamitos (4-2, 1-0) at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach at 7:30 p.m.
“They’re going to be fired up,” White said of the Griffins. “There was an article in their local paper … in the summer about us. They’ve been thinking about us since the summer. They’re going to be very prepared.
“Both teams kind of realize that we’re the best two teams right now. To play kind of for a league championship the second week [of league] is not ideal, but it’s when we’re playing them. I hope we’re ready.”
Carmichael said he believes Edison, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 poll, is ready for No. 7 Los Alamitos. Slowing down the Griffins is something his brother and the defense will try to do.
Kenny, a senior defensive end, has told his brother who Los Alamitos’ playmaker is, his name is Dylan Laurent.
“We can’t let them break out on [trick] plays like they have before,” Carmichael said. “You can’t let them score off broken plays.
“It’s definitely for the league championship.”
Jack Carmichael
Born: May 5, 2000
Hometown: Huntington Beach
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 185 pounds
Sport: Football
Year: Junior
Coach: Dave White
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite movie: “Pulp Fiction”
Favorite athletic moment: “The last game.”
Week in review: Carmichael rushed 13 times for 112 yards and three touchdowns, and caught three passes for 54 yards and one touchdown in Edison’s 48-7 win against Newport Harbor in a Sunset League opener at Huntington Beach High.
