Central football team holds off Jackson in wild game

Central junior Alex Davis-Carter broke on the ball after watching Jackson quarterback Lowgn Wren loft it down the sideline Friday.

"It seemed like the ball was overthrown, so I had a perfect chance to get it," Davis-Carter said. "I saw my chance and I just picked it off."

Davis-Carter's interception, a clean catch along the Tigers' sideline, finally allowed the Tigers to exhale in their 14-12 victory over Jackson. They'd thwarted the Indians' rally in the final minute and defeated their rivals for the second consecutive season after dropping the previous seven. Central last defeated Jackson two seasons in a row in 1990 and 1991.

"I didn't think we was going to make it," Davis-Carter said. "I thought they were going to score on us. But I'm really happy I got the interception. It was a good game."

The Tigers appeared to wrap up the victory when Jacob Campbell raced around the left edge for a 17-yard touchdown for a 14-6 lead with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Cape Central's Jacob Campbell, Alex Davis-Carter and Garan Evans, from left, celebrate their 14-12 win over Jackson on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011, in Jackson. (Kristin Eberts)

The Indians had other ideas.

Wren wasted little time moving his offense. A 10-yard pass and a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty moved the Indians to the Tigers' 43. Wren led his team to the Central 37, where it faced fourth-and-4. Wren squeezed free to his left and leapt for the end zone with 32.6 seconds left to pull his team within 14-12.

"The only thing I was telling people is they can't win," Central quarterback Christian Cavaness said. "You can't get a 3-point conversion. At the worst, they tie it up and we get the ball back and take it into overtime. We really weren't as nervous as we would have been if it was a one-point game or something."

Jackson (1-3) came out of a timeout and lined up in the swinging gate formation for the 2-point conversion attempt, where all the players with the exception of the center and quarterback were lined up to the far left.

Except Wren wasn't at quarterback. Backup QB Ty Selsor was lined up there. The Indians then sent half of their players on the field to the far right, leaving only Selsor and the center in the middle of the field.

"We hadn't worked it," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "We hadn't seen it. It was a good play call on their part."

Selsor took the snap and fired a quick pass to his right, where Nick Cooper caught it at about the 10. But Central senior Hunter Shantz smashed Cooper near the 10 to extinguish the threat.

"The receiver lined up a little too deep on it and the guy was able to cut in behind the wall there and made the tackle and we didn't get in," Jackson coach Van Hitt said. "I thought probably the pass would be the best bet. We could of run one of two things. That's how we worked it, throwing the ball."

Norman credited his defense's quick thinking for stopping the 2-point conversion.

"Our kids were not prepared for what they saw that last play, but luckily they shifted and moved," Norman said. "I tell our kids you've got to be a football player sometimes. You can't be out there in concrete. You've got to think and be a football player. We did that and we were successful."

Central (3-0) dodged that bullet, but another Jackson reloaded. The Indians needed an onside kick for any chance, and they converted. Adam Brown's kick popped off a Central player, and Jackson junior Jordan Jeffers managed to come out of the pile with the ball.

"It was heartbreaking, but we knew we had to come back on D and stop them," Campbell said.

Davis-Carter intercepted Wren on the next play to seal the victory.

"Too exciting," Norman said. "We can't keep doing this every game."

Neither team broke the goal line in the first half, but Jackson missed a pair of golden opportunities. The Indians used 11 plays to earn first-and-goal from the 1. But the Indians fumbled the snap, and the Tigers recovered.

The Indians got the ball back three plays later when Selsor intercepted Cavaness at the Central 29 and returned it to the 4.

But Central's defense held, and Austin Martin blocked a 20-yard field goal attempt to keep the game scoreless.

The Indians wasted no time in the second half. Junior Brannon Wright fielded the opening kickoff at the 8 and streaked to the end zone to give the Indians the lead.

"We needed that," Wright said. "We needed something to get us going. We said in the locker room that this is it. We need to get a momentum change. We need to get this game going."

Cavaness said Wright's return shook the Tigers.

"We had a lot of guys yelling at other people, blaming other people, which good teams can't do that," he said. "We need to quit that right now. I was over trying to calm everybody down, that we do get the ball back and we will score. You've just got to stay calm when things like that happen because the more you get up and hyped and aggravated with everyone else, the worse you're going to do. So you've got to keep that to a minimum."

Jackson forced the Tigers to punt, but the Indians gave back the ball three plays later when Colten Proffer fumbled for the second time in the game. Jacob Boerboom recovered at the Jackson 35, and the Tigers didn't waste the opportunity.

Seven consecutive runs gave the Tigers second-and-goal from the 1, and Cavaness barreled into the end zone behind his line. The Tigers converted the extra point for the 7-6 lead.

Central's offense remained on the field after Mikey Jones recovered an onside kick.

"We went for a little pooch kick," Norman said. "We felt like there was a little gap in there on their kickoff return team. Plus we gave up six points prior to that so we didn't want to kick it deep. It's the lesser of two evils. Why not?"

The drive ended when Wright picked off Cavaness for Jackson's second interception in the game. Cavaness ended up 7 of 13 for 49 yards with three interceptions.

"They were blitzing a lot of guys," Cavaness said. "When we watched film, they weren't really blitzing a lot of guys against the other teams they played. We had trouble picking up who they were blitzing and who they were dropping back. But I think that was the most difficulty we had against the pass. But when we needed something, we definitely got it."

Cavaness hurt the Indians with his legs. He carried a game-high 23 times for 114 yards.

"First of all, he's our best ballhandler and he's got good speed," Norman said. "He makes good decisions. We knew it was a safe play for us to run and it gave us a good opportunity to gain yards."

Cavaness said the heavy workload on the ground left him beat up.

"In practice, they make them stay off me," he said. "For what reason I don't know because they obviously don't do it in games. But I took some pretty good shots, and I still feel them."

Hitt said he expected the Tigers to attack with Cavaness on the ground.

"He's an excellent runner," Hitt said. "We knew what he was capable of. He's hard to contain. He's a good athlete."

Jackson's third great scoring chance came early in the fourth quarter when Wren connected with Trea Forbs along the right sideline. Forbs maneuvered down to the Tigers' 1 before fumbling, and Central recovered in the end zone for a touchback. Campbell's touchdown ended the ensuing drive.

"If there were no turnovers, I definitely think they would have had the game because they had more momentum than us the whole game," Cavaness said. "They had the game. I think it was more them falling apart at those crucial situations than us being strong right there."

Scoring Summary

Central 0 0 7 7 -- 14

Jackson 0 0 0 0 -- 12

Third Quarter

J -- Brannon Wright 98 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:47

C -- Christian Cavaness 1 run (Calvin Lovig), 1:40

Fourth Quarter

C -- Jacob Campbell 17 run (Lovig kick), 1:20

J -- Lowgn Wren 37 (pass failed), :32.6

Team Statistics

First downs (Central-Jackson) 14 10

Rushes-yards 48-230 30-166

Passing yards 49 42

Passes 7-13-3 4-6-1

Punts 2-70 1-27

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-3

Penalties-yards 5-40 3-24

Individual Statistics

RUSHING -- Central, Christian Cavaness 23-114, Alex Davis-Carter 4-2, Tae Jenkins 3-3, Mark Ray 2-(-1), Jacob Campbell 4-71, Mikey Jones 10-41, Austin Martin 1-1, Team 1-(-1). Jackson, Colten Proffer 14-70, Lowgn Wren 8-62, Jacob Jones 2-2, Garrett Miller 6-32.

PASSING -- Central, Christian Cavaness 7-13-49-3. Jackson, Lowgn Wren 4-6-42-1.

RECEIVING -- Central, Tae Jenkins 4-22, Garan Evans 2-18, Jacob Campbell 1-9. Jackson, Trea Forbs 2-29, Brannon Wright 2-13.