With under a minute to go in the contest and trailing 21-14, Central’s defense forced a Bulldog punt and the Tigers took over at their 35 with 46 seconds remaining and no time outs.
On first down quarterback Shade Kutil tossed a 35-yard pass to tight end Joe Gibson, moving the ball to the Wayne 30. After an incomplete pass, Kutil ran out of bounds at the 23 after a 7-yard gain. A 4-yard run by Kutil gave the Tigers a first down at the 19, and Central faced second-and-10 after an incompletion. On the next snap Kutil rolled to his right before launching his 19th throw of the game. The pass, which was tipped by Gibson, was caught by wide receiver Panther Cooksey at the 1. Cooksey fell into the end zone after the reception to make the score 21-20 with no time showing on the clock.
Central normally goes for two after a touchdown, and on the conversion, Kutil again ran to his right before throwing to wide receiver Brandon Holt in the back of the west end zone for the win.
“Our kids never quit and they never got their heads down, and I was real proud of that,” Central head coach Wade Couch said. “We were going in to score in the third quarter, but we had a fumble at our 8 and they scooped it up and returned it for a touchdown. We had two opportunities to score before the half, and in the third quarter we had a good drive but we couldn’t punch it in. We shot ourselves in the foot some, but you have to give them credit.”
Wayne started the scoring in the middle of the first period with a 17-yard pass from quarterback Josh Barrett to wide receiver Ryan Worley. Worley’s point-after kick made the score 7-0.
Central (10-1) answered later in the period when Kutil tossed a 16-yard TD pass to Gibson, but the run failed.
The Tigers took their first lead of the night with 43 seconds left in the second quarter when tailback Ryan Rogers ran for a 10-yard touchdown, and he also ran for the conversion.
The Tigers led 14-7 at the intermission.
The Bulldogs’ defense put points on the board in the third period when Dylan Mars returned a Central fumble 92 yards for a touchdown. The kick failed, and the Tigers took a 14-13 advantage to the fourth period.
With 11:47 remaining in the final frame, Barrett and Worley teamed up for a 75-yard touchdown reception, and Barrett rushed for the conversion to make the score 21-14.
“We had good coverage on that touchdown but we missed two tackles,” remarked Couch.
Rogers was the game’s leading rusher with 130 yards on 26 carries, and Kutil added 107 yards on 24 attempts. Barrett led the Bulldogs with 93 yards on 25 rushes.
Kutil completed 8-of-19 passes for 133 yards, and Holt’s lone pass attempt was completed for a 40-yard gain. Gibson and Rogers each had three receptions for 78 and 33 yards, respectively. Kutil had one catch for 40 yards.
Barrett was 6-of-14 for 144 yards and Worley caught five throws for 134 yards.
Central’s leading tacklers were linebackers Jake Lineberry (10 tackles) and Alex Taylor (10) and Kutil (8), a defensive back. Defensive end Cole Dillard caused and recovered a fumble for the Tigers.
“That win was a credit to how well our kids were prepared, starting with our work in the summer,” said Couch. “We practice our two-minute offense every Wednesday, and it paid off.”
Wayne finished its season with a record of 6-5.
