TIGERS HIT TD BONANZA; CENTRAL'S 26-POINT EXPLOSION TO MUCH FOR ALTHOFF

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Cape Girardeau Central High's Tigers scored 26 points during an eight-minute span of the second quarter to take a commanding halftime lead against Belleville Althoff Thursday night.

But it took an impressive 17-play, nine-minute drive in the fourth quarter to seal the outcome against the host Crusaders.

After the Crusaders, down 26-7 at halftime, had pulled to within 26-21 late in the third quarter, the Tigers proceeded to move 80 yards. When Justin Blackmon scored his second touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run, the Tigers had a 33-21 lead and control of the game again.

Central, bouncing back from last week's disappointing 29-6 home loss to Marshall County, Ky., improved to 4-1. Althoff fell to 2-4.

"The key to the game was our offensive line play," said Central coach Jerry Dement. "Last week we didn't block or tackle well, but tonight we blocked well for each other, both the linemen and the backs."

The Tigers piled up 336 total yards, including 263 on the ground. Blackmon led the way with 191 yards on 30 carries while Tatum Kitchen added 62 yards on 14 attempts.

Althoff had 279 total yards, 186 coming on the ground. Clyde Howard did the bulk of the damage for the Crusaders with 197 yards on 24 carries.

Things did not look good for the Tigers early. On the game's first play from scrimmage, Howard broke loose for an 84-yard touchdown run, putting the Crusaders ahead 7-0.

But the Tigers did not panic. They came back to control the remainder of the first half.

Early in the second quarter, Blackmon scored on a 34-yard run and Jeff Michel's conversion kick tied the contest at 7-7. It was the start of a monster second period for the Tigers.

Central took the lead for good when Kitchen recovered an Althoff fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. The play started when Central's Matt Strickland wrapped up Althoff quarterback Jason Frierdich on a busted play. Frierdich tried to pitch the ball, but it got kicked and ended up bouncing about 20 yards backwards before Kitchen fell on it. Michel's boot made it 14-7.

The Tigers scored another touchdown by way of their special teams. After defensive lineman Ben Lowrance had a sack that ended an Althoff drive deep in its own territory, Central's Steven Criddle and Demarco Williams combined to block a punt -- and it was Lowrance who scooped up the football and rambled 30 yards to the end zone.

"I've never scored before," said a happy Lowrance. "I never thought I'd have the opportunity to touch the ball. I saw it bobbling around on the ground and thought I'd pick it up and run with it. I was thinking I was going to fumble it heading into the end zone. That's the fastest I've ever run in my life."

Michel's kick was blocked, but the Tigers had a 20-7 lead. It looked like that would be the halftime score.

But Central went on a drive in the closing moments and scored a touchdown in the final five seconds of the first half. From the Althoff 40, quarterback Frank McGinty threw a ball toward the end zone. It was tipped by a Crusader but bounced to Chris Allen, who caught it for a touchdown. A conversion run failed, but the Tigers had a big 26-7 lead at the intermission.

"That was nice concentration by Chris Allen," Dement said.

Althoff rallied in the third quarter, scoring on runs of one and three yards by Howard to pull within 26-21.

That's when Central embarked on its 80-yard, time-consuming drive that resulted in Blackmon's TD that made it 33-21 after Michel's kick.

Central tacked on an insurance TD in the closing seconds when Emmanual Harris scored from three yards out and Michel converted.

The Tigers will return to action next Thursday night when they host Oakville at Houck Stadium.