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Tigers
Sports
November 14, 2023
CENTRAL FOOTBALL

Tigers outlast Quapaw in playoff opener, welcome Pawnee Black Bears next

By DAVID SEELEY SPORTS EDITOR 

The Central Tigers took the first step in the Class A playoffs toward a state title Friday night at Tiger Stadium as they got past the Quapaw Wildcats 36-26 in an opening-round game.

The Tigers (11-0) kept their perfect season intact with the win, and they will entertain the Pawnee Black Bears in Friday night’s second-round playoff contest. The Black Bears (9-2) stunned the Hartshorne Miners 44-24 in Friday night’s playoff opener in Hartshorne.

“That’s what we wanted coming into this (Frid...

The Central Tigers took the first step in the Class A playoffs toward a state title Friday night at Tiger Stadium as they got past the Quapaw Wildcats 36-26 in an opening-round game.

The Tigers (11-0) kept their perfect season intact with the win, and they will entertain the Pawnee Black Bears in Friday night’s second-round playoff contest. The Black Bears (9-2) stunned the Hartshorne Miners 44-24 in Friday night’s playoff opener in Hartshorne.

“That’s what we wanted coming into this (Friday night playoff opener),” Central coach Jeremy Thompson said. “This team, how they’re built, is week to week. It doesn’t matter the opponent. It’s not looking ahead. It’s the task in front of us. It’s a test we passed. They did a tremendous job doing that.”

The Wildcats end the season at 7-4.

The Tigers got the opening kickoff and capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run by Coy Blackburn. He also ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead for the Tigers with 8:19 left in the first quarter.

The ’Cats were moving downfield and got into Central territory on their first possession of the game, but the drive stalled. The Wildcats got stopped on downs at the Central 20 with 3:27 remaining in the period as Central defensive back Connor Green tackled Quapaw receiver Zane Stand.

Thanks to a 49-yard run by Central quarterback Joseph Lee, the Tigers moved 80 yards for their second TD as Blackburn scored his second touchdown on an 11-yard run. However, while it initially appeared that Kade Tucker caught Lee’s two-point conversion pass, the referees ruled it hit the ground first, keeping Central ahead 14-0 with 1:41 remaining in the quarter.

The Wildcats used some trickery on the ensuing kickoff. The initial returner handled the ball off to Stand who went down the south sideline virtually untouched for an 86-yard kickoff return for a TD with 1:27 left in the period. Tucker intercepted the two-point conversion pass to keep Central ahead 14-6 after a quarter.

Tucker returned the ensuing kickoff 17 yards to the Central 42, which was the start of a 58-yard scoring drive capped off by a 28-yard touchdown pass from Lee to Isaac Rogers, who outleaped the Quapaw defender just inside the end zone to make the catch. Tucker caught the two-point conversion pass from Lee for a 22-6 lead with 10:58 remaining in the first half.

Then the two teams started trading turnovers. It was a Central turnover with 4:47 left before halftime that was cashed in by the ’Cats as Quapaw quarterback Austin Lake connected with Jaxon Myrick on a 26-yard TD pass. The two-point conversion pass failed, keeping Central ahead 22-12 with 4:41 remaining before halftime.

Perhaps the biggest momentum swing plays of the game occurred within the final minute of the first half. The Wildcats were stopped on downs at the Central 49 with 1:34 left in the first half. The 51-yard drive was cashed in on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Lee to Tucker with 34 seconds remaining before halftime. Lee ran in the two-point conversion for a 30-12 halftime lead for the Tigers.

“It was huge,” Thompson said about the late score to end the first half. “Joseph played a tremendous game. He’s had a lot of great games, but I’m going to put this one at the top of the list (for now) with the plays he made. Kade comes all the way back to the football from across the field to be in (Lee’s) sight. (Lee) makes a great pass. That’s being a playmaker — a football player making a play. Both of them did that. That’s what it’s going to take to keep winning in the playoffs.”

With 34 seconds left in the third quarter, Lee threw his second interception of the game, which set up the Wildcats at the Central 27.

Lake called his own number and rambled 27 yards to paydirt with 23 seconds remaining in the period. Kyle Forbis ran in the two-point conversion to cut the Quapaw deficit to 30-20 going into the final period.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Tigers had their most important drive of the game in which they went about 80 yards, with a 47-yard run by Blackburn and a 25-yard run by Lee chewing up most of the yards. Lee capped the drive with a 3-yard TD run. However, Nathan Vann was stopped on the two-point conversion, keeping Central ahead 36-20 — still just a two-score game.

Aided by a pass interference penalty on Central, the Wildcats marched down field and capped their drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. However, the crucial two-point conversion pass failed, keeping Central ahead by two scores at 36-26.

After stopping Central on its next drive, the ’Cats had another chance to cut their deficit. However, for the second time in the game, Green made a defensive play for the Tigers as this time he picked off Lake’s pass at the Quapaw 35 with 2:20 left in the game.

The Tigers ended up running out the clock, but almost got a score as icing on the cake as Lee almost scored from 31 yards out on what proved to be the game’s final play, only to be stopped at the Quapaw 4 with about 20 seconds left.

“We put us in a hole with penalties,” Thompson said. “We had a couple of breakdowns in the secondary. Those are fixable things. At this time of the year, we definitely have to clean them up.”

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