Cape Central shut out by Eureka

EUREKA, Mo. -- They may have been close to the Six Flags amusement park Friday night, but the Central Tigers weren't enjoying many thrills or much fun.

Eureka's stout defense stifled Central's offense 43-0. The loss ended the Tigers' hopes for a postseason berth. It also was the Tigers' 19th consecutive loss on the road.

Christian Cavaness and Andrew Williams traded off quarterback duties for the third consecutive week, but neither player created any momentum. Numerous runs from Tae Jenkins, Keilon Moore and Terrance Howard went nowhere. Costly turnovers did little to help the Tigers' cause.

"We couldn't utilize our footwork on this turf," Central coach Rich Payne said. "And we couldn't do anything to stop them when they blitzed us."

Both Cole Toti and Chris Bledsoe ran in two touchdowns for Eureka. The Wildcats also scored on a 45-yard sprint by running back Walter Williams, a short run by Tyler Beightel and a Taylor Schwinn field goal in the first quarter.

It was far from a perfect game for Eureka (3-5), which racked up a seemingly endless number of penalties. The team repeatedly lost yards for holding, roughing and illegal procedure. But Central (0-9) proved unable to take advantage on the muddy field.

"We've played in this kind of weather before," Central tight end Zach Boerboom said. "We should know how to handle it. I think they just outplayed us."

Eureka blew open the game with 20 points in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers will try to avoid a winless season Thursday when they host rival Jackson, which also is winless this season.

"They've been our rivals for a long time," Payne said. "It should be a good game. It sure would be nice if we could turn things around enough to beat them."

But it will take a better offensive effort than the one turned in Friday, which marked the second time the Tigers have been shut out this season.

"I don't know what we can do to turn things around," Central wide receiver Quinton Davis said.