Centralia wins 38-14
Listen below to Centralia Panthers Head Coach Tyler Forsee discuss the win over Macon. Fireside Guard Live! audio paid for by Dave Raithel for the 44th.
Listen below to Macon Offensive Coordinator Brad Burkhardt discuss the loss to Centralia. Fireside Guard Live! audio paid for by Dave Raithel for the 44th.
Listen below to Centralia Panthers Chase Kempker and Louis Suddarth discuss the win over Macon. Fireside Guard Live! audio paid for by Dave Raithel for the 44th.
The Centralia Panthers Football team has another win under its belt.
Friday night, September 27 they hit the road to Macon and returned home with a 38-14 win over their Clarence Cannon rivals, the Macon Tigers.
Anthony Ford catches an 50 yard Ethan Ross touchdown pass.
It ended well for Centralia, but did no begin that way. Centralia took the first kickoff only to see the Macon defense score several tackles for a loss against Centralia’s offense, forcing Centralia’s Adam Rhoades to punt.
Centralia returned the favor driving Macon backwards on every play of the Tigers’ first possession.
The with a minute and change left in the first, Macon scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass. Then they treated Panther fans to something they had not yet seen this season, an extra-point kick, moreover, a successful one, putting Macon ahead 7-0.
That came courtesy of Hagan Ritter a Macon Junior. “He bangs them from 25 to 30 yards out. He’s an all-state golfer and likes perfecting his craft.”
Ethan Ross stiff-arms a Macon defender as he runs low along the sidelines for a first down.
“We knew about him,” Centralia Panthers Head Coach Tyler Forsee said afterward. “He’s got a heck of a leg… Hats off to Macon they came out early. Their pass game was on.”
Louis Suddarth homes in for a tackle.
Centralia hit back early in the second, when at the 8:51 mark, Elliott McCoy scythed through the south side of Macon’s line in a seven-yard touchdown run. Charlie Robinson magnumed up the middle, scoring the two-point conversion.
With that, Centralia took the lead, 8-7.
Elliott McCoy brushes off a Macon defender
Robinson was on a roll and at the 2:39 mark rushed for a 24 yard touchdown followed by a Deke Maenner conversion to make it 24-7.
Louis Suddarth scored Centralia’s third first-half touchdown with a one yard up the middle drill, capped by catching a two-yard Chase Kempker pass to put Centralia up 24-7 going into halftime.
They kept it and Macon did not threaten to score again, until the fourth quarter when they scored with a 50-yard touchdown pass and another extra-point kick. “They didn’t stop fighting. They never quit,” Forsee said of the winless Tigers afterward.
But in between those two Macon touchdowns, Centralia scored frequently.
At 2:02 in the third, McCoy scored again, another eight-yard rush, capped by a conversion, putting Centralia up 32-7.
Then Anthony Ford opened the fourth quarter for the Panthers by catching a 60-yard Ethan Ross pass making it 38-7.
Centralia’s offense finished the game with 375 yards, 315 on the ground and 60 in the air.
Their defense held Macon to 165 yards, 188 in the air and negative 23 on the ground.
Ross led Centralia’s passers with one completion and one touchdown.
Robinson led Centralia rushers with 138 yards in 11 attempts with one touchdown. Ross was 61 for 15. McCoy was 57 in eight attempts with two touchdowns.
Jameson Cooper, Suddarth and Josh Russell led the defense with four total tackles each. Cooper had three solos and one assited. Suddarth and Russell had four solos each.
Next week Centralia , now 3 and 2, hosts Highland for homecoming.
Macon, now 0-3, hosts Clark County for homecoming.
For more see next week’s edition of the Centralia Fireside Guard
