Central’s season ends with heartbreaking playoff game

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

QUAPAW – In the first playoff game of the postseason Friday, Central gave up a close but tenable lead, losing to the Quapaw Wildcats 28-22. The Tiger faithful was heartbroken by the close loss, not wanting Central’s season to end prematurely.

But Tigers head coach Jeremy Thompson was proud of the way Central’s offense and defense played against the Wildcats.

Central received the initial kickoff, and took the early lead just three plays later on a 57-yard run by quarterback Joseph Lee. The Tigers then recovered the ensuing onside kick, only to fumble and lose possession on the very next play.

The weather at kickoff in Ottawa County was a light breeze with a temperature of 38 degrees, which held for the game’s duration. The weather, however, was enough to affect the ball, as well as Central’s players, who hadn’t had an opportunity to practice in the conditions.

“I’m very proud of us, defensively,” Thompson said. “I know that Quapaw definitely ran a different style of spread offense than what we’ve seen a lot of in our district. I felt defensively we played a good football game across the board, and we definitely had our opportunities throughout the football game. I’ve gotta give a lot of credit to our guys.”

The Wildcats were down 22-20 with just 15 seconds left in the half when they recovered a Tiger fumble which they converted 12 seconds later with a twopoint conversion. Central went into the half down 2822, and started the second half by kicking to Quapaw.

From there it became a defensive battle for the remainder of the game, with each team’s defense fighting hard enough to stop the other’s offense from making it back into the endzone. Lee managed to kick a nearly perfect punt that Cade Tucker downed at the 1 yard line with 1:45 left in the third stanza. But the Wildcats didn’t have enough of a drive to make it the 99 yards needed to get into their endzone.

“That team is 9-1 for a reason,” Thompson said. “They’re a good football team. I never dreamed we wouldn’t score in the second half. I think we only had our hands on the ball three times, but what a punt by Joe. I felt that, defensively, I couldn’t have been any more pleased. I’m very proud of how our kids played. I know that, offensively, we had a couple of turnovers, but we had some big fourth-down stops, and the defense caused some turnovers as well.

“The defense did a good job all week of preparing,” Thompson explained. “Learning how to line up against the multiple fronts they were going to face. They got us on a couple of big pass plays throughout the game, but for the most part, they did a tremendous job. I was very proud of us and our defensive effort on that side of the ball, and our secondary, they knew they were going to be tested, and they definitely rose to the occasion.”

The Central offense was led by dual-threat quarterback and playmaker Lee, who had a big night, completing 4 of 6 attempts for 33 yards through the air, along with 29 carries for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Coy Blackburn added 13 carries for 50 yards, and Cade Tucker had two receptions for 15 yards.

The Grizzlies had the honor of not giving up a win at home this year, which is always something to be celebrated, and they are saying goodbye to five seniors, which is never easy.

“Throughout the year, we fought hard every night. We had a great football season. I know that we’ve got a lot of guys returning next year, which is very exciting, but we hate seeing the seniors we have go. They were such a big part of this year, and they did a good job as well,” Thompson said.

“We’re going to bring back 19 starters on both sides of the football. That’s pretty good. That’ll be a lot of experience on the field that a lot of guys that have played in a lot of big football games.”