Briefly: Central football team wins big against Poplar Bluff

Senior quarterback Dennis Vinson threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns as Central claimed its first victory of the season 34-13 over Poplar Bluff in the Tigers' home opener Friday night.

Vinson completed a 46-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Jalen Reddin in the first quarter on his first pass of the night, and finished with a 12-yard toss to junior Braion Owens in the fourth quarter.

Owens also had a 10-yard scoring run, while sophomore Al Young added a pair of 15-yard TD runs.

The toss to Reddin gave the Tigers a 7-3 lead at the 6:58 mark of the first quarter.

Poplar Bluff moved ahead on a 3-yard run by Bi Nguyen midway through the second quarter, but Young answered with the first of his TDs with 1:06 left in the half to give Central a 13-10 lead at the intermission.

Owens scored on Central's first possession of the second half to open a 20-10 lead.

Central responded to a Collin Jones 23-yard field goal with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

The Tigers limited Poplar Bluff to 98 yards total offense in the second half.

Vinson completed 6 of 9 passes, with Young leading the way with three catches for 88 yards.

Owens led the Central rushing attack with 19 carries for 63 yards. Central had 142 yards rushing and 348 yards overall.

The Tigers limited Nguyen to 136 yards on 24 carries.

Central 34, Poplar Bluff 13

Poplar Bluff 3 7 3 0 -- 13

Central 6 7 7 14 -- 34

First Quarter

PB -- Collin Jones 30 FG, 8:06

C -- Jalen Reddin 46 pass from Dennis Vinson (kick failed), 6:58

Second Quarter

PB -- Bi Nguyen 3 run (Jones kick), 5:36

C -- Al Young 15 run (Matt Chism kick), 1:06

Third Quarter

C -- Braion Owens 10 run (Chism kick), 6:31

Fourth Quarter

PB -- Jones 23 FG, 9:38

C -- Young 15 run (Chism kick), 7:41

C -- Owens 12 pass from Vinson (Chism kick), 3:15

PB C

First downs 12 13

Rushes-yards 37-171 40-142

Passing yards 127 206

Passes 8-24-0 6-9-0

Punts 2-36.5 1-37

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards 6-56 7-63

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Poplar Bluff, Nguyen 24-136, Jake Pulliam 4-6, Kameron Mismer 5-13, Daniel Francisco 1-11, Alex Lewis 2-17, Team (-12); Central, Owens 19-63, Young 4-28, Vinson 9-16, Bailey Keller 1-9, Chase Eubank 1-4, Reddin 3-15, Kway'chon Chisom 1-0, Khane Booker 2-7.

PASSING -- Poplar Bluff, Mismer 8-24-0-127; Central, Vinson 6-9-0-206

RECEIVING -- Poplar Bluff, Jones 4-55, Austin Jefferson 1-6, Paul Rose 1-8, Tristen Francisco 1-9; Central, Reddin 1-46, Young 3-88, Owens 2-72.