Tigers get first win of season, knock off Roland Rangers

In the previous road game against Warner, in which the Central Tigers lost 41-2 to the host Warner Eagles, Central coach Jeremy Thompson believed his offense didn’t play well. The veteran coach saw a new-look offensive unit in Thursday night’s home game against the Roland Rangers at Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers put up three dozen points and stymied the Roland offense with a strong defensive outing as the Tigers got win No. 1 of the 2024 season with a 36-13 home victory over the Rangers.

“I felt like in Week 1 and Week 2, we were doing too much (offensively),” Thompson said. “We had to come back in and simplify it. We had to get back to work fundamentally up front. That’s where it starts, the offensive line. We did that this week. We did the same thing on the defensive line. We simplified the game so we can play faster and let our athletes play the game. Those guys came to play, and they did a great job. We talk about being disciplined. Discipline equals execution, and that’s what we’re after.”

Things started off with a bang for the Tigers (1-2). After Aidan Sainer took the opening kickoff back 24 yards to the Roland 46, the Tigers needed only three plays to hit paydirt as Central quarterback Braxin Goodson rambled 37 yards for the touchdown. However, the two-point conversion run failed, keeping the Tigers ahead 6-0 with 10:41 left in the first quarter.

After stopping the Rangers (0-3) on their next possession, the Tigers saw Goodson lead them down the field once again. After Goodson’s runs of 33 and 18 yards helped the Central offense get down to the Roland 10-yard line, the Tigers scored on a 4-yard TD pass from Goodson to Xhaiden Mosby with 2:39 remaining in the period. Then, Goodson hit Kiefer Bailey on the two-point conversion pass to put Central on top 14-0 after a period.

On the ensuing Roland drive, the Rangers were aided by a face mask penalty by the Tigers to begin their drive at the Roland 45.

The Roland drive, which ended on the first play of the second quarter, saw the Rangers convert on fourth down to keep moving downfield. On the first play of the second period, Austin Benham went 17 yards for the touchdown. Despite a five-yard substitution penalty, Roland place-kicker Billy McElhaney’s extra point went through the uprights to cut Central’s lead in half at 14-7 with 11:56 left before halftime. Unfortunately, it was the closest the Rangers would get to the Tigers on this night.

The Tigers tried to regain their two-score advantage, but the Rangers recovered a Central fumble at the Roland 11 with 5:40 remaining in the first half. However, it would end up benefitting the Tigers after all.

With 4:08 left in the first half, Central’s Joe Brooks sacked Benham in the end zone for a safety, upping the Tigers’ advantage to 16-7.

“The defense stepped up, including a safety,” Thompson said. “There were several guys who racked them up (tackles).”

Off the kickoff, Central took possession at the Roland 39 with 4:03 remaining before halftime. The Tigers needed just 52 seconds to cover those 39 yards as Goodson scored his second rushing TD of the night as he went 40 yards to paydirt. For the second time on the night, Goodson hooked up with Bailey for the two-point conversion to put Central ahead 24-7 with 3:11 left before halftime.

It looked like the Rangers responded as Benham connected with McElhaney on an 80-yard TD pass, only to have it nullified due to a holding penalty. That stymied the drive.

Even though both teams had one more chance offensively to score, neither team was successful in doing so, thus the Tigers took a 24-7 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

The third quarter was full of defensive stops by both teams, which included a fumble recovery by Central’s Cole Holcomb to thwart a Ranger drive and Roland defensive back Paul Johnson picked off Goodson in the end zone and returned it to the Roland 3 with 8:19 left in the third quarter.

It looked as if the Johnson pick was going to spark the Rangers. A 38-yard run by Lucas Younger got the Rangers down to the Central 10-yard line, but the Tigers defense got back-to-back quarterback sacks on Benham to stop Roland on downs and take over at the Roland 42 with 29 seconds remaining in the period, which saw the Tigers keep their 24-7 lead heading into the final quarter.

The ensuing Central drive ended with points as Goodson connected on a 39-yard TD pass to Nathan Vann, moments after he dropped a sure touchdown reception. Goodson was sacked on the two-point conversion pass, keeping the Tigers ahead 30-7 with 11 minutes exactly left to play in the game.

“Nathan Vann is a heck of an athlete,” Thompson said. “He’s a kid I’ve got complete faith in. We’re going to drop passes, but we talk about ‘we have to forget, and go for the next play.’ I knew if I gave it back to him, he’ll go make up for it (the previously-dropped potential TD pass).”

The Rangers tried to mount a rally, but they were stopped on downs at the Central 42-yard line with 9:05 remaining to play.

Thanks to a 39-yard scramble by Goodson, he cashed in the possession with a rushing touchdown hat trick as he took it in from 17 yards out. The Tigers tried for a conventional extra point, but the center snap was bad and the attempt failed, keeping the Tigers safely ahead 36-7 with 7:38 remaining to play.

“There in the fourth quarter, I wanted to turn him (Goodson) loose a little bit more, but I didn’t,” Thompson said. “He had a great game.”

After Sainer recovered a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers took over at the Roland 25-yard line after Sainer’s 7-yard return with 7:29 remaining in the game. However, the Rangers stopped the Tigers on downs at the Roland 17 with 5:33 left to play.

The Rangers only needed 61 seconds to score as Crossno rambled 79 yards for the TD. After a substitution infraction, the PAT was tried five yards further back, and McElhaney missed it, keeping the Rangers down 36-13 with 4:23 remaining to play.

“We couldn’t put together sustained drives,” first-year Roland coach Greg Wise said. “We had drive in the first half where we were moving the ball, and we were getting what we were wanting from the plays we were calling. We just couldn’t sustain any drives after that. Offensively, we just couldn’t sustain drives. Central has a good defense. We knew it was going to be a battle. I think Coach Thompson eluded to the fact in the summer that he was going to have one of his fastest defenses he’s ever had. We faced that, and hats off to Central. Our inability to move the football was directly attributed to Coach Thompson and his defense.”