Central comes from behind to beat Sikeston in thrilling fashion

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Central football coach Nathan Norman is generally not given to explosive halftime tirades.

Friday night was the exception.

"He slammed the trash can. It scared the mess out of me," Central sophomore Al Young said with a laugh. "I hate seeing coach like that."

Whatever Norman did, it worked.

The Tigers were dominated by host Sikeston in the first half and entered the break behind 17-6.

The second half was a totally different story.

Central stormed out of the locker room and totally turned things around, scoring 23 third-quarter points and pitching a second-half shutout to win going away 29-17.

"He [Norman] got mad at us. He brought the intensity out of us," Central senior Mikey Jones said.

A smiling Norman recalled his halftime outburst after the Tigers improved to 3-4 overall and 3-1 in SEMO North Conference play with their second straight victory.

"I didn't have a choice. I really didn't," said Norman, whose squad wrapped up second place in the SEMO North Conference with the key district win. "I challenged the kids. I didn't know if anybody wanted to be here."

Norman got the response he was looking for, although it left him wondering.

"We responded and played very well in the second half," Norman said. "I don't know why we can't put together four quarters like this."

Two quarters were more than enough to turn the tide against the Bulldogs (5-2, 2-2 SEMO North), who suffered consecutive losses for the first time in six years.

"We played an almost flawless first half in all three phases. It's about as good as we can play," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said. "We knew Cape has some great athletes."

Sikeston built a 14-0 lead, saw it cut to 14-6 and carried momentum to the break as sophomore Nathan Hampton kicked a 35-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.

The Bulldogs controlled the clock in the opening two quarters, running 36 plays to 17 for the Tigers. Sikeston outgained Central 200-87 in total yardage.

"We came out thinking it was going to be a little easier than what it was," Central senior Chase Eubank said. "The score after the first half opened our eyes a little bit."

Central received the kickoff to open the second half and quickly faced third-and-8 at its 22-yard line.

Young, whose primary offensive position is receiver although he often lines up at running back, paid dividends at that spot to get Central out of a hole.

Young ripped off a 13-yard run for a first down, then on the next play broke off a 36-yarder.

Five plays later, senior quarterback Dennis Vinson charged in from 2 yards out and Jones ran for the two-point conversion. It was 17-14 with nearly nine minutes left in the third.

"We came out with a new attitude," Vinson said of what transpired after the intermission.

Central's defense, gashed for 167 first-half rushing yards -- 127 by hard-running senior Chris Word -- forced a three-and-out.

The Tigers then followed up their 80-yard touchdown drive to begin the half with a 67-yard scoring march that took only three plays.

Vinson threw a nice deep ball to Young, who finished off the 56-yard touchdown reception by eluding several would-be tacklers over the final 25 yards. Now Central had its first lead of the night at 21-17.

Central then recovered a Sikeston fumble on the second play of the Bulldogs' ensuing possession.

The Tigers only needed to drive 41 yards, again taking just three plays. Vinson fired a 35-yard strike to junior Bailey Keller on third-and-4. Junior holder Josh Morse couldn't corral what appeared to be a low snap but was able to run for the two-point conversion that made it 29-17,

"We had good protection and the receivers did a great job getting open," said Vinson, who attempted just four passes but completed three for 94 yards.

Vinson's final TD pass, with 3:28 left in the third period, ended a run that saw Central score those 23 points in a span of just 5:26.

"They had some kids step up. Once that momentum gets going it's hard to stop," Gibbs said.

Central had a 208-16 yardage advantage in the decisive third quarter as the Tigers ran 20 plays to only nine for the Bulldogs.

"We came out with more intensity," Jones said.

The Tigers' defense made the 12-point lead stand up the rest of the way. Sikeston's last-ditch effort at a potential rally was snuffed out by defensive end Eubank's 19-yard quarterback sack in the final minutes.

"The defense really turned it on in the second half," Eubank said. "We did what we had to do."

Central wound up with a 343-308 edge in total yardage, but it was 235-108 in the second half. And most of Sikeston's second-half yardage came on its final drive.

"One of the biggest issues, we did nothing offensively in the second half," Gibbs said. "They [Sikeston's defense] were just out there the whole third and fourth quarters."

The Tigers had three running backs gain over 70 yards as Central rushed for 238 yards.

Jones led the way with 104 yards on 20 carries. Junior Braion Owens had 71 yards on 11 carries and Young added 73 yards on seven attempts.

"Shout out to all the coaches, the O-line and coach [Britt] Mirgeaux, our running backs coach," Jones said.

Young scored Central's first touchdown, on a 10-yard run in the second quarter as he appeared to be stopped near the line before breaking several tackles.

"We thought it was going to be easy, like against Farmington [a 59-21 win the previous week]," Young said of Central's first-half mindset.

Word finished with 158 yards on 25 carries -- including a 15-yard run for the game's first touchdown -- but the Tigers held him in check over the final two quarters.

"He's a very good running back," Norman said. "Hat's off to Sikeston. They played a heck of a game. I have the utmost respect for coach Gibbs and his while staff. They run a class program."

Central returns to action this Friday, hosting Chaminade.

Central 0 6 23 0 -- 29

Sikeston 7 10 0 0 -- 17

First Quarter

S -- Chris Word 15 run (Nathan Hampton kick), 3:46

Second Quarter

S -- Reese Porter 11 run (Hampton kick), 10:05

C -- Al Young 10 run (kick blocked), 6:08

S -- Hampton 35 FG, 0:00

Third Quarter

C -- Dennis Vinson 2 run (Mikey Jones run), 8:54

C -- Young 56 pass from Vinson (Matt Chism kick), 5:27

C -- Bailey Keller 35 pass from Vinson (Josh Morse run), 3:28

C S

First downs 16 15

Rushes-yards 39-249 49-201

Passing yards 94 107

Passes 3-5-0 14-17-0

Punts 1-41 2-33

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-1

Penalties-Yards 3-35 3-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Central, Jones 20-104, Braion Owens 11-71, Young 7-73, Vinson 4-minus 5, team 2-minus 2. Sikeston, Word 25-158, Ernest Fobbs 6-32, Porter 13-27, Chase Davis 2-4, Hampton 2-minus 20, team 1-0.

PASSING -- Central, Vinson 3-4-0-94, Kway'chon Chisom 0-1-0-0. Sikeston, Porter 7-8-0-34, Hampton 7-9-0-73.

RECEIVING -- Central, Young 1-56, Keller 1-35, Jones 1-3. Sikeston, Garrick Madison 4-67, Austin Lott 3-12, Davis 3-9, Ray Council 2-17, Word 2-2.