Tigers entertain Warner Eagles tonight in home opener
Things did not look good for the Central Tigers in last week’s season opener at Heavener, being down two scores in the second half.
However, not only did they rally, but the Tigers got a blocked field-goal attempt in the first overtime by Braxton Prewett, then won the game in double OT to leave town 27-24 victors.
“There were 155 total plays in that game,” Central coach Jeremy Thompson said. “Getting in playing shape is a big deal. We came out injury free. We got the win. It was a perfect Week 1.”
As in any season opener, there were good moments and not-so-good moments.
“We did a lot of good things on the offensive side, and a lot of bad things,” Thompson said. “We did a lot of bad things on defense, and a lot of good things. Those are things we need to work on to get better and improve on, but that’s always going to be the case Week 1.”
However, the Tigers (1-0) won their first season opener last Friday night for the first time since beating Heavener 32-23 in the 2023 season opener.
“It’s what you think about all summer long,” Thompson said. “You’re ready for the football season to start. It’s one game at a time, so your mind is on the first one. A lot of times, there are a lot of nerves that play a part in the mistakes that you make in Week 1, so I think we’ve settled coming into Week 2. We’re going to be OK this week and excited about having a home opener.”
Tonight will be the Tigers’ home opener when they entertain the Warner Eagles at 7 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. When the two teams met last year in Warner, the Eagles flew past the Tigers 41-2.
“That’s definitely something that has been on our mind and how we performed that night,” Thompson said. “I take a lot of the fault in that game from last year in many different areas.
We weren’t ready to play, and it showed. We took a tough loss that night. That’s not us, so we’re definitely ready to prove that we’re a different football team than what they saw before.”
Thompson said the Tigers are wanting to win not only the games they captured in 2024, but win the ones they lost last season.
“You always want to win the games you won the year before and win the games you lost,” he said. “For us, it’s week by week in getting better at what we do. It’s about us in Weeks 1, 2 and 3 (non-district games) and us getting better as a football team.”
The Eagles (1-0) won their season opener last week, handling the Nowata Ironman 29-8.
“They do have some good athletes at wide receiver,” Thompson said about the Eagles. “Their quarterback, Memphis Swimmer, has done a great job of running their offense. Up front, they’re big. They have some big, offensive linemen across the board. Defensively, they’re very sound on the defensive side. All 11 guys come tackle, and they tackle well. They are a good football team, but, at the same time, we are, too. It’s going to be a great game on Friday.”
The Tigers will need to play a sound game if they want to avenge last year’s 39-point loss to the Eagles.
“We can’t turn the ball over,” Thompson said. “We need to be better in special teams. They onside kick quite a bit — as a matter of fact, in their first game, the onside kicked every time. We’ve played teams that do this. We have to make sure we don’t give up possessions — that will be a big key. We have to take advantage of the ones (possessions) that we do have.”
