Sikeston's offense tramples Tigers

Christian Cavaness perfectly read the short pass into the flat, stepped in front of the intended receiver and raced 48 yards for a touchdown.

"I saw the slot guy, he tapped his thigh pad," said Cavaness, a Central sophomore defensive back. "He hadn't done it all game. I thought something was up.

"I jumped it and got the pick. I got lucky."

Unfortunately for the Tigers, that was one of their few highlights Thursday night at Houck Stadium.

Sikeston kept Central winless while extending its unbeaten record halfway through the regular season with a 33-6 romp.

Sikeston's Jarian Wims carries the ball toward the goal line as Central defenders cannot prevent a touchdown during the second quarter.

"They're pretty big, they block well and they've got a lot of fast kids," Cavaness said.

Sikeston's speed and quickness overpowered Central as the Bulldogs improved to 5-0 while dropping the Tigers to 0-5.

The Bulldogs, who had a three-game shutout streak snapped, won at Central for the first time since 1999. Sikeston extended its best start since the 1991 team won its first six games.

"I felt like we did good overall," Sikeston senior quarterback Juqualin Wiggins said. "We had a couple of mistakes, but we fought through it.

"It feels good [to be 5-0], as long as we keep working hard."

Sikeston dominated defensively as the Bulldogs limited Central to 159 yards and just 50 in the second half.

"Our defense was outstanding," said Sikeston third-year coach Kent Gibbs, who already has led the Bulldogs to as many wins as they had last season. "But I thought Cape played really hard."

Central coach Rich Payne said the Tigers failed to execute offensively, although he credited Sikeston with having plenty to do with that.

"Our execution was poor, but they're a good ballclub. They come at you defensively," Payne said.

While Gibbs didn't think his squad executed all that well either, the Bulldogs still piled up 345 yards of offense, including 267 on the ground.

Standout senior tailback Eli Jackson rushed for 85 yards on eight carries and scored two first-half touchdowns, on runs of 3 and 38 yards.

Jackson did not play in the second half due to an injury, but Wiggins helped pick up the slack with several key runs. He finished with 84 yards on 12 carries and completed 6 of 8 passes for 78 yards.

Another impressive Sikeston running back, senior Jarian Wims, scored on runs of 3 and 13 yards. He rushed for 59 yards on 15 carries.

"We've got some kids who can run the ball," Gibbs said.

Despite never really moving the ball well offensively, Central did have some early chances to threaten Sikeston.

With the Tigers trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, junior linebacker Kevin Flesher intercepted a pass and returned it 9 yards to the Sikeston 19.

Central drove inside the 5 but had a pass intercepted.

Sikeston turned the ball right back over as senior defensive back Ray Woldtvedt recovered a fumble at the Bulldogs' 13.

But Central lost 10 yards in three plays and a fourth-down pass was intercepted. The Tigers never got that close to scoring again.

"We got two opportunities inside the 20," Payne said. "You need to come away with points."

Central's only other really good scoring chance came in the second quarter. Trailing 13-0, the Tigers drove inside Sikeston's 30 but, on fourth-and-long, again had a pass intercepted.

"We're the type of team, when we have an opportunity, we have to capitalize," Payne said.

Trailing 19-0 at halftime, Cavaness came up with his big defensive play less than five minutes into the third quarter as the Tigers again tried to make things interesting.

"Christian is a good athlete. He does a nice job," Payne said.

But Sikeston answered with a touchdown on its next possession and never was threatened the rest of the way.

Sikeston earned its points as its five touchdown drives ranged from 50 to 80 yards.

Central junior quarterback Andrew Williams completed 15 of 25 passes for just 88 yards and he was intercepted four times.

"We're really happy to be 5-0," Gibbs said. "We have some goals we want to meet and we needed to win this game to get to them."

Sikeston 7 12 8 6 -- 33

Central 0 0 6 0 -- 6

First Quarter

S -- Eli Jackson 3 run (Josh Carlyle kick), 8:12

Second Quarter

S -- Jackson 38 run (kick failed), 9:55

S -- Jarian Wims 13 run (run failed), 3:38

Third Quarter

C -- Christian Cavaness 48 interception return (run failed), 7:07

S -- Wims 3 run (C.J. Council run), 4:38

Fourth Quarter

S -- Council 6 run (kick failed), 3:06

S C

First downs 14 10

Rushes-yards 49-267 29-71

Passing yards 78 88

Passes 6-8-2 15-25-4

Punts 1-21 4-32

Fumbles-Lost 5-2 0-0

Penalties-Yards 6-35 7-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Sikeston, Jackson 8-85, Juqualin Wiggins 12-84, Wims 15-59, Council 5-42, Tanner Bryant 2-1, Dale Winters 4-1, team 3-minus 5. Central, Terrance Howard 3-30, Brandon Pickens 8-21, Keilon Moore 1-8, Tae Jenkins 7-15, Ray Woldtvedt 3-5, Andrew Williams 4-2, James Poindexter 2-3, Cavaness 1-minus 13.

PASSING -- Sikeston, Wiggins 6-8-2-78. Central, Williams 15-25-4-88.

RECEIVING -- Sikeston, Jackson 3-30, Niquavious Dixon 2-41, Jordan Williams 1-7. Central, Moore 4-19, Pickens 4-16, Jenkins 3-28, Kevin Cassasola 1-13, Cavaness 1-7, Zach Boerboom 1-6, Howard 1-minus 1.