Central wins roller-coaster game against Haskell

To be sure, there was no shortage of excitement Friday night in a game that featured five lead changes before Central emerged with a 22-19 verdict against visiting Haskell.

Central head coach Jeremy Thompson was able to guide the Tigers to another thrilling come-from-behind victory that went down to the last minute of the game.

’Till the end of the first half, the defenses dominated, with each team only scoring once before heading to the locker rooms. The second half turned the excitement up with the fourth quarter being a nail-biter from start to finish.

“We had Conner Green return the opening kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown,” Thompson recalled. “They tied the ballgame up with an 8-yard rushing touchdown. Their conversion failed, so we went into halftime tied 6-6.”

The Haymakers came out of the half ready to play, taking the lead with a three-yard touchdown run and extra point to give Haskell a 13-6 edge.

“Joseph Lee scored on a 12yard run, and then Lee ran in the two-point conversion, and we took a 14-13 lead,” Thompson recapped. “In the fourth quarter with 2:40 left, they scored on an 85-yard touchdown pass, and took a 19-14 lead.”

That touchdown created the fourth lead change of the game. Haskell‚s ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Central the ball on the 35 yard line, making it a 65-yard trek for the Tigers to get to the endzone, behind by five points.

“On the first play of the drive, we caught Conner Green on a big pass that gave us 30 yards right there,” Thompson said. “We drove it down until it ends up being fourth and 10. We throw a long pass to Isaac Rogers for a 24-yard reception that he brings down inside the 5 yard line. We punch it in with 29 seconds left to play, and we go up and get our two-point conversion to get it to 22-19 on a Joesph Lee pass to Isaac Rogers.”

The Tigers‚ big plays made all the difference in this game, with Lee, Coy Blackburn, Rogers and Green all having a great night.

Lee had 24 carries for 54 yards and two touchdowns, and was 10 for 16 passing, getting 166 yards in the air. Blackburn had two drive-saving catches for 54 yards, along with nine carries for 41 yards. Rogers snagged three critical passes for 36 yards, Cade Tucker caught two passes for 45 yards and a fourth-quarter interception, and Hunter Pack had four carries for nine yards.

On defense, Blackburn and Pack each had 12 tackles, with Blackburn getting a huge play, stripping and recovering the football at the end of a long Haskell running play. Tyler Bush, Josh Marino and Green had seven tackles each, followed closely by Rogers with six tackles.

“We had a good night passing,” Thompson said. “Offensively, Haskell did a good job, and defensively, they really stopped our run game. We came up with some big plays when we needed ’em on offense. We did the same thing defensively, made stops when we needed ’em. We made plays on the offensive side. Our guys really stepped up big in the fourth quarter again to get a win, and I‚m very proud of how they played. It was a great ball game.”

Central (3-1) is preparing for Friday‚s 7 p.m. road game for its second district game of the season against Pocola (3-2).