The Tigers limited Warner to 71 yards rushing and 87 passing while handing the Eagles their first District A-8 loss of the season.
"We were tremendous on defense. I had to tell the kids how much fun it was to watch them play," said Central head coach Wade Couch, who was especially pleased with the efforts of the defensive linemen.
"Coach (Lance) Winans took it personally and worked hard with them all week and it showed. Some of our top tacklers were defensive linemen. They were very active," said Couch.
Linemen Curtis Hall and Brandon Shockey were both in on 10 tackles while linebackers Brenden Gentry and Dalton Campbell also had 10 tackles apiece. Campbell, who was starting for the first time, recovered a fumble for Central while J Johnson and Brandon Holt both intercepted passes.
The Tigers had three turnovers themselves, and an interception set up the game's first touchdown. Warner took a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter on a four-yard run by Jed Baker.
However, Johnson got the momentum right back for Central when he fielded the ensuing kickoff and returned it 59 yards.
"Everybody did a tremendous job blocking and he just went right up the middle. There was a big hole and didn't even have to wiggle," Couch said of the kick return.
The Tigers took advantage of the good field position and needed just five plays to reach the end zone. Johnson got the touchdown with a one-yard run, but the extra-point kick was no good and Central trailed 7-6 with 4:13 left in the half.
Warner took a 10-6 lead into the locker room after Matt Denton booted a 32-yard field goal on the final play of the half. The score was set up by a 42-yard pass, but Couch thought the play should have been wiped out by a penalty.
"Warner had a guy go in motion toward the line of scrimmage and the officials didn't call it," said Couch. "Take that play out and it's a totally different ball game."
Campbell's fumble recovery at the Warner 35-yard line set up the go-ahead touchdown for Central. The Tigers covered that distance in four plays, scoring on an 11-yard run by Travis Cullum. David Drake's point-after kick put the Tigers up 13-10 with 5:11 left in the third quarter.
Central sealed the victory after Johnson intercepted a Warner pass at the Eagles' 40-yard line. Six plays later, he crossed the goal-line on a quarterback-keeper from one yard out. Johnson ran for the two-point conversion as well, to make it 21-10 with 1:13 left in the game.
Johnson, a junior quarterback, ran for a game-high 162 yards on 27 carries. Cullum picked up 56 yards on 11 runs as the Tigers' ground game generated 215 of the team's 228 total yards.
"We had planned all week to throw more, but it was our base offense that won the game for us," said Couch.
Kyler Ekberg had the lone pass reception for Central, a 13-yarder from Johnson.
Warner's top rusher was Nathan Morton with 57 yards on 23 carries. Baker completed 4-of-9 passes for 32 yards and Andrew Mealer was 3-of-6 for 55 yards.
The Tigers bounced back from a tough loss at Quinton the week before to run their record to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in district. Warner fell to 4-2 overall and 3-1.
Couch said it was a victory that will keep the Tigers in the playoff hunt. They face first-place Panama on Oct. 18, but have a non-district game at Barnsdall before that.
"It was a huge win. It was one of those games we needed to have," said Couch. "With Panama looming, this is the kind of effort that will carry us through-although Barnsdall is the most important game this week."
