Tigers' upset bid falters after half

The Central Tigers had plenty of first-half surprises for the Farmington Knights on Friday night at Houck Stadium.

There was the Brandon Pickens introduction and three first-half touchdowns as the Tigers jumped out to a 14-point lead.

However, the bag of surprises seemed to have been stamped with an expiration date that read "halftime."

Trailing by three points at halftime, Farmington rebuffed the Tigers with four touchdowns in a span of 6 minutes, 2 seconds on the game clock during the second half and emerged with a 44-28 victory.

Despite Pickens emerging from a three-game suspension with a 153-yard rushing performance, Central dropped to 0-4. Farmington, which had lost consecutive games to Belleville East and Jefferson City Helias, evened its mark at 2-2.

Central Brandon Pickens speeds past the Farmington defense during Friday's game at Houck Stadium. (Laura Simon ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian)

The Tigers came into the game having lost 17 of their last 19 games and were facing a team that reached the Class 4 quarterfinals last year.

Central quickly sent a message on its first play from scrimmage as Pickens went in motion, took the handoff as he passed in front of quarterback Andrew Williams and dashed around the left end. A downfield block from wide receiver Christian Cavaness allowed Pickens to dash 68 yards for a touchdown just 14 seconds into the game.

Pickens surpassed the 100-yard mark on the second play of the second quarter as he carried 10 times for 141 yards in the first half.

The blistering speed of No. 25 clearly had the Knights on their heels.

"The Farmington coach asked me where I was at on the film," Pickens said. "Their coaches gave me a lot of compliments, and I was pretty shocked and real happy about it. Their coaches were saying they were happy they didn't have to see me again."

Central linebacker Kevin Flesher drives Farmington running back Charlie Uptegrove into the ground during Friday's game at Houck Stadium. (Laura Simon ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian)

Game film would have revealed Pickens on the sideline the first three games. Pickens had violated an unspecified team rule before the start of the season and was suspended for the first three games by Central coach Rich Payne.

Pickens was not allowed to practice for five days, and when he returned, he found extra running. His game preparation was restricted to the scout team, where he played the role of opposing running backs or quarterbacks.

"We didn't even let him take a snap with the varsity squad until this week," Payne said.

And that was after an apology last week.

"I apologized to the team and everything, and they accepted my apology and welcomed me back," Pickens said.

"He paid his dues and did what he's supposed to do to get back among the team, and I think he learned a valuable lesson from that," Payne said. "And I think when he apologized to the team, I think he was very sincere about that."

Pickens got plenty of snaps Friday. He carried the ball on more than half of the Tigers' first-half running plays. The Tigers rolled up 183 yards rushing on 19 plays, while Williams completed 4 of 5 passes for 61 yards.

"Coach Payne had them ready to go, and they did some things we hadn't seen, and they had the Pickens kid," Farmington coach Todd Vaughn said. "He's very, very talented. And [Payne] had them ready to go."

Farmington answered Pickens' touchdown run with an 89-yard scoring drive on its first possession. Sophomore running back Connor DaVault, who would rush 19 times for 106 yards, carried seven times for 36 yards on the drive as the Knights balanced running plays in their no-huddle spread offense.

After forcing the first of two Farmington fumbles in the first half, Central moved ahead with a six-play, 77-yard drive, capped by a Williams 20-yard scoring pass to Tae Jenkins.

Central then forced Farmington's only punt of the first half and drove 53 yards for a 20-7 lead. Williams scored on a 2-yard run at the 9:33 mark of the second quarter.

The Tigers strengthened their bid for the upset when they forced Farmington's second fumble at the Knights' 44. The possession ended on downs at the Knights' 28.

"That was probably the key to our victory, what our defense did that drive," Vaughn said. "If they would of scored again, it may have gone sour for us."

Farmington began its scoring spree after the stop. Quarterback Zach Hibbits threw his first of three touchdown passes, a 10-yard strike to Andrew Johnson that capped a 72-yard drive, and Logan Bradley added a 22-yard field goal with 3 seconds left in the half to cut the Tigers' lead to 20-17.

Central's offense self-destructed in the third quarter with two turnovers and a total of 8 yards.

Farmington took its first lead midway through the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Charlie Uptegrove and led 24-20.

The Tigers' next two possessions were disastrous from the start.

Central missed connections on a handoff on the first play of its ensuing drive as Farmington recovered at the Tigers' 26. Farmington scored on a 4-yard run by Cole Thurmure for a 30-20 lead.

On the first play of Central's next possession, DaVault stepped in front of a Williams pass in the flat and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. It was the Knights' second touchdown in a 14-second span and upped Farmington's lead to 36-20.

"Andrew threw the ball pretty stinking good with the exception of the interception," Payne said. "He probably should have thrown that to the tuba player and been done with it. But he didn't and that was pick-six and that's the way it goes."

Williams completed 13 of 19 passes for 153 yards.

Farmington scored its fourth touchdown of the second half on the first play of the fourth quarter as Hibbits threw a 24-yard pass to Johnson. A 2-point conversion increased the lead to 44-20.

Central broke Farmington's 37-point scoring streak with a 20-yard scoring pass from Williams to tight end Zach Boerboom with 1:56 left in the game.

Central finished with 372 yards of offense, while Farmington had 515 yards.

"We've got to minimize our mistakes and keep our effort level up and we'll be all right," Payne said.

Central returns to action Thursday when it hosts unbeaten Sikeston.

"I was really, really impressed [with Central]," Vaughn said. "And you know what, I was impressed with Cape at the jamboree. They are a way, way better football team. They may have the same record as last year, but they are a way better football team. I hope they keep playing hard because I think they'll be good by the end of the year."

Farmington 7 10 19 8 -- 44

Central 14 6 0 8 -- 28

First Quarter

C -- Brandon Pickens 68 run (Matt Ponder kick)

F -- Cole Thurmure 2 pass from Zach Hibbits (Logan Bradley kick)

Second Quarter

C -- Tae Jenkins 20 pass from Andrew Williams (Ponder kick)

C -- Williams 2 run (kick failed)

F -- Andrew Johnson 10 pass from Hibbits (Bradley kick)

F -- Bradley 22 FG

Third Quarter

F -- Charlie Uptegrove 5 run (Bradley kick)

F -- Thurmure 4 run (kick failed)

F -- Connor DaVault 30 interception (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

F -- Johnson 24 pass from Hibbits (Kyle Odle pass from Hibbits)

C -- Zach Boerboom 20 pass from Williams (Boerboom pass from Williams)

F C

First downs 28 18

Rushes-yards 52-275 29-219

Passing yards 240 153

Passes 17-25-0 13-19-1

Punts 3-30 3-36.3

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-Yards 12-127 6-39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Farmington, DaVault 19-106, Hibbits 9-52, Uptegrove 9-71, Brett Bader 1-4, Thomure 1-4, Jacob Emanuel 11-27, Chase Busenbark 2-11; Central, Pickens 14-153, Terrance Howard 3-8, Williams 5-(-1), Ray Woldtvedt 1-14, James Poindexter 1-5, Jenkins 2-9, Keilon Moore 2-16, Christian Cavaness 1-(-2)

PASSING -- Farmington, Hibbits 17-25-240-0; Central, Williams 13-19-153-1

RECEIVING -- Farmington, Kevin Cassasola 3-58, Odle 3-97, DaVault 4-31, Thomure 2-7, Bader 2-12, Jonathon Bird 2-32, Doug Warren 1-12; Central, Moore 1-29, Jenkins 3-41, Boerboom 5-75, Pickens 2-2, Cavaness 1-1