Gridiron: Led by Zai’Aire Thomas, Cape Central looks to return to state

Now a year removed from one of the most successful seasons in school history, the Cape Central Tigers football team looks to establish a foothold among Southeast Missouri’s most powerful in 2023.

The Tigers advanced all the way to the state semifinals for the first time since 2015 after escaping a district with local rivals Jackson and Poplar Bluff and defeating MICDS in the quarterfinal round.

While Central lost a few key position players from last season’s squad, the Tigers look to reload with a slew of talented players, including 2023 Semoball Football Offensive Player of the Year finalist Zai’Aire Thomas at running back.

Cape Central head coatch Kent Gibbs barks a command during a summer football camp at Cape Central High School. (Photo by Clay Herrell)

“Successful programs use success from the previous year and build off of that to try and continue that momentum,” Tigers coach Kent Gibbs said. “We are certainly looking to use that as an example.

“We were sitting here at 2-3, and we ended up making a pretty deep run into the playoffs. Let’s use that knowledge that we gained, let’s use that playing time from playing those extra games and put that to work and use that now.”

With a number of vacancies in the lineup, the Tigers are using the offseason to get a feeling for the new-look offense. Morgan Diamond has graduated from the gridiron to the golf course, setting the stage for Deklin Pittman’s turn at the quarterback position.

The recent successes of the football program have brought increased interest to the team, creating a better pipeline for Central athletes to compete for Gibbs’ semifinal football team as the staff looks to quantify past success with more success.

“Overall our total numbers are up,” Gibbs said. “The kids have been leading the way, so to speak, this year. They’ve been in attendance, and we’re better today than what we were the first of June. Things are going really well.”

The Tigers’ regular season schedule begins strong, while pro-gressively becoming easier as the season continues. In total, Cape Central’s schedule went 44-54 in the 2022 season, including a 9-32 stretch in the final four games of the regular season.

This stretch allowed the Tigers to gain momentum in the back half of the season, propelling them into a deep postseason run that saw two one-possession wins, a 25-12 win against Oakville, and a 62-7 thrashing of the Mehlville Panthers in the district opener.

With an identical schedule to the 2022 season, Cape Central looks to build on a 10-4 record with a similar level of success. With the shifting of hands in Jackson and a rematch at home against a powerful Hills-boro team, Cape Central is poised to make a similar run despite a new handful of fill-ins at skill positions.

Now with a roster of veterans that are familiar with postseason success and the thrill of gridiron glory, Gibbs believes that the older side of his roster has done a strong job of placing a precedent with the younger and less experienced players, and his locker room is trending in the right direction.

“They’re in there every day and they’re working,” Gibbs said. “They’re doing things they have got to do to make themselves better and, at the end of the day, the other guys are looking at them and probably saying to themselves, ‘I need to get better.’ We’re gonna go week to week trying to get better every week.”

__Cape Central__

__Coach:__ Kent Gibbs (Fifth season with team; 22-22 team record; 182-163 career record)

__Last season:__ 10-4, 3-1 SEMO North

__Key returners:__ Deklin Pittman, Zai’Aire Thomas, Davarious Nunley

__Key loses:__ Morgan Diamond, Clayton McClard, Marshon Edwards

__Schedule__

Aug. 25 — St. Charles, 7 p.m.

Sept. 1 — Hillsboro, 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 — Poplar Bluff, 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 — at Park Hills Central, 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 — at Jackson, 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 — Farmington, 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 — at Sikeston, 7 p.m.

Oct. 13 — at DeSoto, 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 — Potosi, 7 p.m.