Central football team advances to state semfinal round

Forget 1-4.

The Central Tigers are now one of four.

Weathering a 22-point assault by Miller Career Academy in the Class 1 quarterfinal Saturday at Tiger Stadium, Central prevailed for a 25-22 victory on a last-minute, 31-yard touchdown run by senior Mikey Jones.

"I'm just super proud of my kids," said Central coach Nathan Norman, who saw his team improve to 9-4 on the season with its eighth consecutive win. "Our kids never giving up and fighting to the end. It was a heck of game for a fan to watch -- not a coach."

Central appeared to be in total control after Matt Chism's 37-yard field goal gave it a 18-0 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter against the previously unbeaten Phoenix, who came in ranked No. 10 in Class 4.

The Tigers ended up needing late heroics after the Phoenix struck for two touchdown passes and returned a punt about 50 yards for a touchdown and a 22-18 lead with 3 minutes, 42 seconds left in the game.

Central running back Mikey Jones beams after scoring the go-ahead touchdown against Miller Career Academy during the fourth quarter. (Fred Lynch)

"We didn't have to face any adversity, and then boom, fourth quarter we're behind," Norman said. "Our kids, it don't matter. All year they've fought back and never gave up. Even early in the year, they kept playing."

Central ultimately kept its season alive with a dramatic seven-play scoring drive that covered 66 yards.

The drive put Central in its first semifinal since 1978. The Tigers will visit three-time defending state champion Webb City (12-1), ranked No. 1, in Saturday's semifinal.

"It's a great season," said senior linebacker Ansley Patrick, who set up Central's first touchdown with an interception. "We just turned it around. Now we're at the final four playing Webb City -- they're a pretty well-known team."

The Tigers, who never have played in a championship game, also played in semifinals in 1969, 1972 and 1977.

"It's crazy to think we've put together enough to put together what we've got going on right now," senior lineman Martez Carter said. "We knew it was going to be tougher because they're undefeated for a reason, but we did what we had to do to make it happen."

On the get-it-done list: The Tigers' defense twice stopped the Phoenix on downs inside the red zone, once from the 1; sophomore receiver Al Young hauled in five catches for 138 yards, and Jones rushed for 119 yards on 30 carries to push his single-season school record total to 2,042 yards.

Jones scored on a 4-yard run on Central's second possession of the game after Patrick gave the Tigers possession at the Phoenix 27. Vinson's conversion run gave Central an 8-0 lead with 2 minutes, 36 seconds left in the first quarter.

The score stayed put until the closing seconds of the second quarter.

Central unexpectedly upped its advantage to 15-0 after it stopped the Phoenix (11-1) on downs to take over at its own 38 with seven seconds left. Not content with taking an 8-0 lead into halftime, senior quarterback Dennis Vinson heaved a tight spiral into the strong south wind and hit sophomore Al Young in stride behind Miller Academy cornerback Eric Burt for a 68-yard touchdown. Chism's extra point sent Central into halftime with a 15-0 lead.

Central wide receiver Al Young comes up smiling after catching a 32-yard pass and before being tackled by Miller Career Academy’s Javon Collard during the third quarter of a Class 4 quarterfinal Saturday at Central. (Fred Lynch)

"Traditionally, I run the clock out and go into halftime up 8-0, but hey, why not when you've got Al Young, Jalen Reddin and a quarterback who has a cannon?" Norman said. "[Vinson's] the best poor-weather-throwing quarterback I've ever seen. Rain don't effect his ball. He throws a tight spiral and a hard ball. It don't matter, a 20 mph wind or not, he can throw the ball. And he did -- perfect throw, perfect catch."

It was the 11th touchdown catch for Young, who upped his season total to 1,179 receiving yards on 38 catches. He has 22 TDs overall.

"I told coach from the start, 'I've got a mismatch,' Young said. "I just seen and knew I could burn him. Like from the first hit, he was closing in on me. And I got him beat, and Dennis just threw it up there. I just had to get it."

"It was a punch in the gut for them," Norman said about Miller Academy. "You can tell at halftime, but hey, they fought back. We beat a heck of a football team today. They were very good."

Miller Academy had just 54 yards of total offense in the first half, and most of that was negated by seven penalties for 46 yards. Central mounted 182 yards and had one penalty for 15 yards.

Chism added to Miller Academy's task when he kicked his first high school field goal for an 18-0 lead with 11:45 left in the game.

However, the Phoenix reeled off the game's next 22 points on three touchdowns to stun the Tigers.

Senior Karon Thomas scored on a 42-yard pass from James, and Mark Frazier hauled in the conversion pass to cut the deficit to 18-8 with 11:11 remaining in the game.

James then threw a 22-yard scoring toss to junior Javon Collard on Miller Academy's next series to pull the Phoenix to within 18-14 with 8:02 left.

"He brought it together a little bit," Miller Academy assistant coach Chris Cooper said about James. "I tried to tell them to slow it down a little bit. 'We've got plenty of time. We don't need to rush anything.'"

The Phoenix recovered an onside kick after the touchdown to gain possession at the Central 29, but the drive stopped on downs at the 11. The defense then forced the Tigers to punt, and junior Travis Riley gave Miller Academy the lead on the return. He received the kick near the 50 and raced to the end zone with 3:42 remaining. James ran in the conversion for a 22-18 advantage.

"That's what happened to them last week, so we knew they were going to come out hot," Chism said. "We just got lucky at the end. Mikey put them away. He was clutch."

Central took possession at its own 34 with its season on the line.

"We looked at each other and said, 'Do you want to turn in your gear? If you want to turn in your gear, go turn it in, But we're not turning ours in,'" senior offensive guard Lorenzen Brookins said. "We're not ready to turn ours in. Nobody -- Mikey, Al, Braion (Owens), Dennis -- nobody wants to turn their gear in. We want to go to the state championship."

The drive didn't start well, with Vinson sacked for a seven-yard loss on first down. A 10-yard completion to Young and a Vinson keeper up the middle had the Tigers facing fourth and 4 at their own 40.

On fourth down, Phoenix brought the heat on Vinson, who appeared to almost unload a pass upfield to avoid the sack.

"I had a quick read to Al, and I was just getting rid of it, and hopefully he could make a play for me," Vinson said. "He was supposed to be there. I didn't know he caught it until I was on the ground. I heard cheering."

The pass found Young crossing across the middle. He snatched it just before it hit the Central logo at midfield.

"Almost," said Young, when asked if the ball was about to hit the turf. "I caught it in my fingertips and just grabbed it. When I grabbed it, I saw all open space and green grass. We got down there and Mikey made a big play. I'm so happy."

The pass play went for 22 yards. A facemask penalty on the tackle added five more yards to put Central at the Phoenix 33.

"That's the play of the game," Norman said. "Fourth down and four -- Al to catch that off the ground ... that's as good or better catch than the touchdown."

Vinson picked up two yards on first down before a pass bounced off the hands of a well-guarded James Wilferth in the back of the end zone.

"I came back and told [Jones] I messed that one up, but you get in the end zone the next play," Wilferth said.

On third and 8, Jones dashed over right tackle, turned back toward the middle of the field and high-stepped into the end zone with 58 seconds left.

"His heart. He wants to win," Vinson said about Jones. "It's his senior year. This is it. That's all it was: How bad do you want it? And he wants it. He's a great football player."

Miller Academy finished with 218 yards of offense, but had 12 penalties for 89 yards.

"The penalties killed us, and at crucial moments," Cooper said. "That just solidified the game."

Central, which averaged 50.8 points and 512 yards of offense in its previous seven wins, was held to 317 yards.

"It feels amazing," said hefty Central senior tackle Darvile Hopkins said. "Coach told us, 'If we make the [semifinals], then we get ice cream and stuff. So I'm pretty psyched about that."

Miller Academy 0 0 0 22 -- 22

Central 8 7 0 10 -- 25

First Quarter

C -- Mikey Jones 4 run (Dennis Vinson run), 2:36

Second Quarter

C -- Al Young 62 pass from Vinson (Matt Chism kick), ;00

Fourth Quarter

C -- Chism 37 FG, 11:45

M -- Karon Thomas 42 pass from Jaylan James (James pass to Mark Frazier), 11:11

M -- Javon Collard 22 pass from James (pass failed), 8:02

M -- Travis Riley 50 punt return (James run), 3:42

C -- Jones 31 run (Chism kick), :58.6

M C

First downs 11 15

Rushes-yards 35-118 46-137

Passing yards 100 180

Passes 7-17-1 8-13-0

Punts 3-43.3 4-36.2

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 12-89 4-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Miller Academy, Marquis Stewart 20-66, Jaylan James 13-51, Derreion Twitty 2-1, Central, Jones 30-119, Chase Eubank 2-1, Vinson 11-9, Braion Owens 3-8.

PASSING -- Miller Academy, James 7-15-1-100, Stewart 0-1-0-0, Twitty 0-1-0-0; Central, Vinson 8-13-0-180

RECEIVING -- Miller Academy, Frazier 3-24, Stewart 1-3, Thomas 1-42, Collard 2-31; Central, Jones 1-4, Young 5-138, Kway'chon Chisom 1-23, Jalen Reddin 1-15.