Central football falls flat against Lions

~ Fort Zumwalt East rolled off 40 consecutive points in a 47-21 win over Central

The Central Tigers had to contend with rain and Shane at home Friday night.

The former didn't bother the Tigers as much as the latter in a 47-21 loss to unbeaten Fort Zumwalt East.

Lions junior quarterback Shane Barrett threw three first-half touchdowns and rushed for two more, and that was with without hanging around -- unlike a steady drizzle -- for the second half.

Barrett and the Class 5 Lions, who opened the season 3-0 despite playing all Class 6 schools, made quick work of the Class 4 Tigers.

Central students celebrate a touchdown by Tigers running back Braion Owens during the first half. The Jungle was awarded the school’s Player of the Game for their unwavering support on a rainy night that ended in a 47-21 loss.

With the 5-foot-8, 165-pound Barrett leading the way, FZE scored on all six of its first-half possessions as it rolled up 306 yards of offense in the opening 24 minutes. Barrett rushed seven times for 65 yards and completed 7 of 8 passes for 152 yards.

"He's a good player," Central senior linebacker Scottie Thomas said. "He plays hard and never gives up on a play. And if you're going to bring him down, you've got to take him all the way down."

That rang true on a scramble in the second quarter when Barrett turned a possible sack into a 51-yard scoring pass to junior receiver Matt Etherton. Barrett kept his composure and stood his ground long enough to find Etherton wide open 20 yards beyond the Tigers' defense at the 20-yard line.

"He's just a competitor and he has a great understanding of our offense and he's learning to read the defenses better and better each week," said Lions coach Scott Eacret. "He comes off the field with some good ideas as far as calling plays."

The play was part of a 33-0 first-half burst by FZE that turned a 7-7 tie into a 40-7 rout by intermission.

Central running back Braion Owens runs past Fort Zumwalt East defensive back D’Andre Campbell for a touchdown during the first half. More photos can be viewed at semoball.com.

Central (1-3) had played the Lions close last year, with a 7-7 tie entering the fourth quarter ultimately favoring FZE 21-7.

And the Tigers appeared capable of hanging with FZE on Friday when junior Braion Owens scored on a 12-yard run on Central's second possession of the night to match the 1-yard scoring run by Barrett on the Lions' opening drive.

Owens' TD, with 2 minutes, 13 seconds left in the quarter, capped a seven-play possession that traveled 31 yards.

The tie lasted for just 31 seconds as FZE began its offensive explosion, covering 70 yards in two plays. Aremus Thomas broke off a 62-yard run and was brought down by a penalty-drawing horse-collar tackle that moved the ball to the Central 4. Je'Von Willis scored on the next play to start the onslaught.

Central senior Mikey Williams fumbled on the Tigers' ensuing possession, setting up the Lions at the Central 24. It was one of four fumbles by the Tigers and two that were recovered by FZE.

Tatum Kitchen, left, Travis Clark and Annette Slattery, who were inducted into the Central High School Hall of Fame before the game, were recognized at halftime.

"It was slippery, but coach got on to me and I started locking on to it with two hands and get it together," said Jones, who finished with 97 yards rushing on 26 carries after missing the previous week with a knee injury.

The Lions again needed only two plays to find the end zone, with Barrett connecting with Daniel Morris on an 18-yard scoring pass.

Barrett's scrambling pass to Etherton on the next possession capped another two-play scoring drive and was followed by an efficient three-play drive that ended when Barrett hit Etherton in stride just beyond a Central defender along the right sideline on a 64-yard play.

The score gave FZE four touchdowns in nine offensive plays and a 33-7 lead with 6:11 left in the second quarter.

"We really got out of our game plan, and those four touchdowns in nine plays did that to us," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "We got behind, and that's not us. It got us out of our game plan and we couldn't make anything happen."

FZE, which rallied past Hickman with a touchdown in the final minute of an 18-12 win a week earlier, struck again on a Barrett 28-yard scoring run before the intermission for a 40-7 lead.

Barrett, moved to running back and took an option pitch from Morris, who split the quarterback duties with Sam Walden for the entire second half.

"We did not play well at all offensively last week, especially up front, so that was our big key tonight to clean some things up on the offensive line, and I thought they did that tonight," Eacret said.

FZE averaged 12.2 yards per play for the half, compared to 2.7 for the Tigers, who had 74 total yards in the half.

Barrett said he was taken back by the score at halftime.

"It was really surprising because they looked tough on film," Barrett said. "We played really good the first half."

The Tigers faintly resembled the team that defeated Poplar Bluff 34-13 a week earlier.

"It was everybody," said Central senior quarterback Dennis Vinson, who completed 3 of 7 passes for 53 yards. "We just didn't execute the way we should have. We just didn't come out and play like we should."

Thomas echoed the sentiment.

"We knew they were a good team coming out," Thomas said. "I don't think we did as good a job as we knew we can coming out early and playing, and that's just on us seniors getting in there and making sure everybody is ready to go. We take responsibility for this and we have to get ourselves to come together as a family."

The Lions struck for the first points of the second half when Etherton, a junior, pulled in a 36-yard pass from Morris. All three of Etherton's catches in the game went for TDs as he finished with 151 yards receiving.

"I don't know if he's fast or we're slow, but one of the two," Norman said about Etherton. "He's faster than us."

Jones and sophomore Al Young had scoring runs in the second half for Central.

"It felt good to get out there, but we're still recovering from the injury and still getting this together," Jones said.

The Tigers face rival Jackson next week.

"I would like a little more momentum coming into it, but that's life," Norman said. "Prepare and get ready."

Fort Zumwalt 13 27 7 0 -- 47

Central 7 0 7 7 -- 21

First Quarter

FZE -- Shane Barrett 1 run (Thomas Czerniejewski kick), 5:33

C -- Braion Owens 12 run (Matt Chism kick), 2:44

FZE -- Je'Von Willis 4 4un (kick failed), 2:13

Second Quarter

FZE -- Daniel Morris 18 pass from Barrett (pass failed), 11:52

FZE -- Matt Etherton 51 pass from Barrett (Czerniejewski kick), 9:17

FZE -- Etherton 64 pass from Barnett (Czerniejewski kick), 6:11

FZE -- Barrett 28 run (Czerniejewski kick), :52

Third Quarter

FZE -- Etherton 36 pass from Daniel Morris (Czerniejewski kick), 7:37

C -- Mikey Jones 2 run (Chism kick), 2:52

Fourth Quarter

C -- Al Young 13 run (Chism kick), 5:20

FZE C

First downs 15 13

Rushes-yards 35-201 44-175

Passing yards 199 53

Passes 9-12-0 3-7-0

Punts 3-29.3 2-32

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-2

Penalties-Yards 2-10 2-9

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Fort Zumwalt East, Barrett 7-65, Willis 3-10, Aremus Thomas 6-75, D'Andre Campbell 1-6, Morris 7-33, Derina Maye 4-13, Sam Walden 7-(-1); Central, Jones 26-97, Dennis Vinson 8-9, Owens 5-32, Bailey Keller 1-5, Young 3-37, Team 1-(-5)

PASSING -- Fort Zumwalt East, Barrett 7-8-0-152, Morris 2-5-0-47; Central, Vinson 3-7-0-53

RECEIVING -- Fort Zumwalt East, Pierce Roberts 1-11, Campbell 3-16, Morris 1-18, Etherton 3-151, Michael Cullen 1-8; Central, Owens 1-5, Young 2-48.