Tigers' woes extend into football district

~ Central fell to 0-8 with a 31-10 loss to Rockwood Summit

Central hoped to revive its football season by winning Thursday night's Class 5 District 1 opener.

A big, strong Rockwood Summit team made sure the Tigers didn't come close to making that happen.

The Falcons dominated both lines of scrimmage and pounded out a 31-10 victory at Houck Stadium.

Central, continuing its worst start since the 1983 squad went 0-10, fell to 0-8. Summit improved to 2-6 as it broke a six-game losing streak.

"Very disappointing," said junior Keilon Moore, who scored the Tigers' lone touchdown.

Central coach Rich Payne said what happened Thursday was fairly easy to dissect.

"They had some big kids," he said. "They beat us in the line of scrimmage some."

After committing five turnovers in their previous game, the Tigers did not turn the ball over against Summit.

But Central never could muster a consistent offense or slow down the Falcons enough when they had the ball.

"The thing we didn't do tonight is we weren't consistent enough to be in the game at the end," Payne said.

Summit, almost exclusively running the ball, piled up 307 yards on 47 carries. The Falcons finished with 357 yards of offense compared to 212 for Central.

Senior Dominic Bonagurio paced Summit with 137 yards on 21 carries. He scored two touchdowns, on runs of 43 and 9 yards.

But senior Andrew Beisel might have been the back who hurt Central the most.

Beisel twice scored touchdowns -- from 7 and 15 yards -- after taking direct snaps out of the Wildcat offense in the first half.

Beisel also rambled for 50 yards to set up one of his scores. He gained 95 yards on just 12 carries.

"We just didn't tackle like we should have," Moore said.

Things actually began well for the Tigers as they forced a three-and-out by Summit on the game's opening possession, then drove deep into Falcons territory before settling on a 32-yard field goal from sophomore Matt Ponder.

"We started out great," Moore said. "Then we started letting it go."

Summit answered with a 64-yard touchdown drive to go ahead 7-3. The Falcons never looked back.

Central's next two possessions netted just four yards and the Falcons scored touchdowns on their two ensuing possessions to open a commanding 21-3 halftime lead.

The Tigers had a chance to draw closer late in the first half, but a long drive -- highlighted by senior Ray Woldtvedt's 60-yard run on a misdirection play -- ended on downs after it reached inside the Summit 10.

Central started the third quarter by driving for its lone touchdown, a 13-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Christian Cavaness to Moore that made it 21-10.

"I thought it would [give Central momentum]," Moore said. "Then we pinned them back."

But Summit, starting at its 6-yard line after the kickoff, drove 89 yards in 20 plays. Even though the Falcons had to settle for a field goal, they bled nearly 11 minutes off the clock and went up 24-10.

"We kept them out of the end zone and forced them to kick a field goal, which was a small victory for us," Payne said.

Central's offense, however, couldn't get anything going on its next two possessions before Summit iced things with a late touchdown.

Senior Brandon Pickens, who had rushed for more than 100 yards in three of his previous four games, was held to 62 yards on 21 carries. Woldtvedt had 71 yards on just two attempts.

Cavaness, making his first start at quarterback after seeing his first action there last week at Seckman, completed 6 of 14 passes for 65 yards.

"We kept playing hard. We never let up," Moore said.

Central, still alive in the district race, has just two more chances to avoid a winless season.

"We just have to keep working at it," Payne said.

Summit 7 14 0 10 -- 31

Central 3 0 7 0 -- 10

First Quarter

C -- Matt Ponder 32 FG, 7:05

S -- Andrew Beisel 7 run (Whitlock kick), 2:15

Second Quarter

S -- Beisel 15 run (Whitlock kick), 10:33

S -- Dominic Bonagurio 43 run (Whitlock kick), 6:18

Third Quarter

C -- Keilon Moore 13 pass from Christian Cavaness (Ponder kick), 8:35

Fourth Quarter

S -- Whitlock 23 FG, 10:36

S -- Bonagurio 9 run (Whitlock kick), 4:03

S C

First downs 17 10

Rushes-yards 47-307 33-147

Passing yards 50 65

Passes 6-8-0 6-14-0

Punts 3-29 4-29

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 4-52 6-36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Summit, Bonagurio 21-137, Beisel 12-95, Drew Lance 4-50, Alex Clark 3-11, Nick Duggan 3-8, Austin Noland 2-5, Myles Robinson 1-1, team 1-0. Central, Ray Woldtvedt 2-71, Brandon Pickens 21-62, Moore 2-21, Terrance Howard 1-3, Tae Jenkins 1-2, Cavaness 6-minus 12.

PASSING -- Summit, Robinson 5-7-0-45, Jermon Watson 1-1-0-5. Central, Cavaness 6-14-0-65.

RECEIVING -- Summit, Watson 2-27, Beisel 2-15, Robinson 1-5, Zach Firsick 1-3. Central, Zach Boerboom 2-29, Moore 2-21, Andrew Williams 2-15.