Momentum evades Central against talented Pocola squad

POCOLA – When it came to moving the football Friday night, Pocola could and the Central Tigers couldn‚t, and that proved the difference in the Indians posting a 30-8 win in district play.

Tigers head coach Jeremy Thompson has to give credit where it‚s due, because the Indians were able to stop the Tigers‚ run and made fewer mistakes to win the Class A District 8 game, leveling Central‚s district record at 1-1.

“Offensively, we struggled a little bit and we weren‚t able to move the ball the way we needed to, and, defensively, we didn‚t play a bad football game,” Thompson recalled. “We just didn‚t move the ball well on the offensive side and they did, which is really the difference in the game.”

Joseph Lee scored on a 23yard touchdown run for the Tigers early in the game, but struggled after that, unable to get another point for the duration of the game.

A few key penalties were part of the story that kept the Tigers from completing what might‚ve been scoring drives, so the team is going to need to move the ball better next week.

Central‚s defense was solid for much of the game, shutting down Pocola‚s run game. But one big running play and one big passing play proved the difference for the Tigers. Had Central been able to make those key stops, it would have been a different game.

“On the defensive side of the ball, our d-line played well, with Hunter Pack, Conner Green and Coy Blackburn leading us in tackles, with Pack having eight tackles, Green had 12 and Blackburn had nine.”

The Tigers are already switching gears in preparation for Friday‚s homecoming game against the Porter Pirates for another district game.

Central‚s plan is to keep getting better by practicing physical, sound, mistake-free football to keep Porter from making big plays.

“I‚d say we played behind the chains a little bit [against Pocola] on some drives that we had going, and didn‚t get going the way we‚d like.

“Offensively, it‚s not just one spot, we‚re going to focus on multiple areas and we‚ve got to do a better job across the board and get ready for Porter by focusing on them immediately,” Thompson said. “It‚s another big game, every week. It‚s homecoming for us this Friday, so we need to step up and go get this one.”