Beats Carrollton, 44-6
Listen below to Centralia Head Football Coach Tyler Forsee discuss the win over Carrolton. Fireside Guard Live! audio paid for by Raithel for the 44th.
Listen below to Carrollton Head Football Coach Andy Frerking discuss the loss to Centralia. Fireside Guard Live! audio paid for by Raithel for the 44th.
Listen below to Centralia Panthers Anthony Ford and Josh Russell discuss the Carrollton game. Fireside Guard Live! audio paid for by Raithel for the 44th.
A cold east wind blew spiderwebs off the uprights on Miller Field’s goal posts.
Unlike the webs, the wind made no difference at all to the Centralia Panther Football Team as the pummeled the visiting Carrolton Trojans on their way to a 44-6 district tournament win the evening of Friday, November 1.
Centralia started the game by scoring without hesitation.
Ethan Ross took a Marshall Kable snap 64 yards for a touchdown on the first play of their first possession. “Ethan Ross did Ethan Ross things,” Tyler Forsee, Centralia Panthers head coach said afterward. “There was some good blocking and when he finds a hole, he’s not giving it back.”
Charlie Robinson sweetened the deal with an up the middle two-point conversion.
The Trojans were quick learners though.
During the first half, they held Centralia to two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions.
Carrolton bent the Iron Wall a few times, but only broke through once.
“We knew they were going to run the Veer and they did a good job of that,” Forsee said. “They kind of had some big drives on us. They didn’t score in the first half. But they did a good job of eating the clock up. Owning the time of possession, that’s for sure.
They kept Carrolton off the scoreboard until 11:14 in the fourth quarter, though the Trojans threatened to score at least twice before.
Peyson Bryson put Centralia back on the board at 7:27 in the second with a nine yard run, set up by a Chase Kempker first down. Louis Suddarth scored the conversion to make it 16-0 going into halftime.
“We weren’t real clean in the first half,” Forsee said. “That’s what we talked about during halftime. We have to clean up stuff. We didn’t necessarily have turnovers but we had penalties. One that took a touchdown away that Logan Rosenfleder caught. I was so excited to get him that catch… Just things that we’ve got to clean up.”
Centralia Panthers Anthony Ford and Josh Russell agreed.
“The first half was not as pretty as the second half, but we came out and got the job done,” Ford said.
“We knew they weren’t going to lay down, we knew we were the favorites, but at the end of the day it comes down the basics and getting better each and every week so we can move on each and every week.”
Centralia put the pedal to the metal after halftime.
Chase Kempker and Elliott McCoy each scored touchdowns in the third. Kempker’s a four-yard rush, McCoy’s a 45-yard sprint.
Bryson struck again in the fourth with a 30-yard touchdown run and Lousi Suddarth ran his in from 51 yards out.
Suddarth completed a two-point conversion in the third and again in the fourth.
Centralia’s offense took 388 yards from Carrollton, 16 in the air and 372 on the ground.
Ross led Centralia’s rushers with 84 yards in five attempts and one touchdown. Suddarth was 82 in nine with one touchdown, McCoy was 62 in three, with one touchdown and Bryson was 54 in for with two touchdowns.
Jameson Cooper led Centralia’s defense with 14 tackles, 12 assisted and two solos. Suddarth had nine – three solo and six assisted. Zarek Poe had eight solo tackles and Charlie Robison had seven – four solos and three assisted.
November 8, Centraliia, seeded third in the district, plays second-seed Father Tolton in Columbia in the second round of the district playoffs.
For the complete article, see next week’s edition of the Centralia Fireside Guard.
