Central barrels over NMCC to snap football losing streak

Deonte Jenkins danced around waving his arms, trying to encourage the sizable home crowd.

Rich Payne endured an early shower courtesy of a Gatorade cooler.

The Central student section ran onto the field to join the celebration.

The streak is over.

Central ran over New Madrid County Central 41-6 behind a balanced offensive attack to win its first football game since Oct. 9, 2008.

Central's James Poindexter runs the ball as teammate Christopher Bird blocks New Madrid players during the first quarter Friday at Houck Stadium. Central defeated New Madrid County Central 41-6. (Kristin Eberts)

"You don't know how good this feel," Central senior James Poindexter said.

Central quarterback Christian Cavaness accounted for four touchdowns. The junior threw for three scores and ran in another to help the Tigers force a running clock late in the third quarter. The Tigers outgained the Eagles 396-176.

"It starts with the offensive line," Payne said. "I think that's a good group of offensive linemen and I think we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

"Four of those kids have been starters for two years."

The Tigers wasted no time setting the tone. Cavaness hit Jenkins for a 46-yard gain to get to the 7-yard line. The Eagles stopped Central three times, forcing fourth-and-goal from the 2. Payne didn't blink.

Central cheerleaders lift up Alicia Kennon during a cheer in the fourth quarter Friday at Houck Stadium. (Kristin Eberts)

Cavaness ran up the middle on a quarterback keeper for the Tigers' first score of the season.

The Tigers' defense forced the Eagles to go three-and-out before Poindexter broke off a 50-yard run on the first play of the drive.

Cavaness found Keilon Moore in the back of the end zone three plays later for another score.

After the teams traded punts, the Eagles switched up their offense. First-team all-starter G'Darius Stevenson moved from quarterback to running back and made the Tigers pay on the first play of the drive. He broke tackles and ran away from the Tigers' defense for a 97-yard touchdown.

No worries for this year's Tigers. Poindexter broke off a 53-yard gain to the 6-yard line on the first play from the line of scrimmage. Central scored two plays later on Rodney Reynolds' run up the middle.

"I thought it was going to be harder," Poindexter said about the Tigers' success running the ball.

Central tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter -- a 49-yard run by Austin Davis and a 16-yard reception by Trey Gardner -- to force the running clock. Poindexter led the Tigers with 151 yards on six carries, an average of 25.2 yards per carry.

The Tigers gained 278 yards on the ground, but no back had more than eight carries and four backs had at least three carries. Payne liked the diversity.

"To be quite honest, we can flip a coin and put out there whoever we want to put out there," Payne said about his running backs. "I don't mean that egotistically. I think we've got a good group of running backs. James [Poindexter] is probably, pound-for-pound, the most powerful kid we've got on our squad. He's small, but that is one powerful young man right there."

Jenkins finished with two 46-yard catches for 92 yards. One of the receptions went for a score.

"I just ran hard," Jenkins said. "I had confidence in the line."

While the Tigers' offense looked impressive, the defense proved a strength.

New Madrid only recorded one first down in the first half, and that came on Stevenson's 97-yard touchdown run. The Eagles didn't record another first down until the final play of the third quarter.

Stevenson finished with 117 yards rushing, but when the touchdown run is subtracted, he only gained 20 yards on 13 carries.

"I think defensively we ran to the football well and I thought we pursued well and we tackled well, for the most part with the exception of that one breakdown," Payne said.

The Eagles, who reached the Class 3 state quarterfinals last season but suffered heavy losses to graduation, struggled to move the ball all night. They punted five times and were limited to 176 yards of offense.

"We were clogging the holes," Central senior lineman Christopher Bird said.

The victory marked the first time since 2003 that the Tigers opened the season with a win. Payne said he told his players to celebrate for 24 hours but then it would be time to get back to work. The players bought into the advice.

"It feels good," Bird said. "Now we just got to get ready for the next one. We're not done yet. We're going to go undefeated and make it all the way to state. You can write that down."

Payne, who wasn't please with his players dousing him with water after the game, offered a little more perspective.

"It's one win. I want them to be excited about it, but if we're playing in the playoffs and we get to that point and continue to develop this program to where we're at that point, throw all kinds of water on me that you want," he said. "I don't want to take away from the enthusiasm. But at the same time, it's one. And one is a good thing for this program but it's not where we want to be at the end of the season."

NMCC 0 6 0 0 -- 6

Central 14 13 14 0 -- 41

First Quarter

C -- Christian Cavaness 2 run (Andrew Hileman kick), 6:01

C -- Keilon Moore 10 pass from Cavaness (Hileman kick), 2:25

Second Quarter

N -- G'Darius Stevenson 97 run (kick blocked), 9:31

C -- Rodney Reynolds 3 run (kick failed), 8:07

C -- Deonte Jenkins 46 pass from Cavaness (Hileman kick), 4:39

Third Quarter

C -- Austin Davis 49 run (Hileman kick), 9:01

C -- Trey Gardner 16 pass from Cavaness (Hileman kick), 3:36

NMCC C

First downs 3 10

Rushes-yards 30-170 32-278

Passing yards 6 118

Passes 2-7-0 4-7-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-20 5-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- NMCC, G'Darius Stevenson 14-117, Lorenzo Hill 3-5, Lemonte Nelson 1-9, Arlandre Newson 3-(-7), Jamareia Jones 6-31, Jayshawn McDaniel 1-9, Damoddre Wilson 1-6, Damien Glispie 1-0. Central, Keilon Moore 7-37, Deonte Jenkins 8-15, Rodney Reynolds 3-4, Christian Cavaness 1-2, James Poindexter 6-151, Austin Davis 2-50, Garan Evans 1-(-1), Michael Reeder 1-9, Alex Davis-Carter 2-7, Eric Evans 1-4.

PASSING -- NMCC, G'Darius Stevenson 1-6-3-0, Arlandre Newson 1-1-3-0. Central, Christian Cavaness 4-7-118-0.

RECEIVING -- NMCC, Jayshawn McDaniel 1-3, Courtland Shannon 1-3. Central, Deonte Jenkins 2-92, Keilon Moore 1-10, Trey Gardner 1-16.