Dewitz
returns
in
conquest Ball control key to Tigers’ rout
By NORM WEBER
Independent Sportswriter
That’s exactly what
the
The Eagles ran but
three offensive plays – two of them giveaways on fumbles – the entire first
quarter. By the time Central-Hower’s offense was on the field for as many as two
consecutive plays the Tigers had a 20-0 lead.
In the bruising first
quarter, Craig Johnson carried nine times for 83 yards and Chris Spielman nine times for 48 yards.
“We were hot,” said
Dewitz was back at starting quarterback, after a
two week layoff with a knee injury.
Wearing a knee brace, the senior signal caller engineered three
first-quarter touchdown drives with seasoned precision.
Starting at their own
26-yard line after the opening kickoff, the Tigers drove 76 yards in 11 plays, Spielman going around right tackle from one yard out for
the score.
On the Eagles’ first
play after the ensuing kickoff Tiger senior Robert Neff recovered an Eagle
fumble at the visitors’ 38-yard line.
Four plays later
Johnson scooted in from 15 yards out on a draw play. Johnson got excellent
blocking from the right side of the line, Dave Morelli,
Kirk Harper, and Darrell Strickling.
“That was an
excellent draw play,” said Central-Hower head coach
Bill Skeggs.
“We should have stopped it. We
knew they were going to do it. Everyone
knew they were going to do it. I was
disappointed we couldn’t stop it.”
When Central-Hower got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff it was déjà
vu. The Eagles fumbled on the first play
and Tim Sampsel recovered at the Eagle 27-yard line.
Dewitz proceded by firing a 27-yard scoring strike
to split-end Paul Briggs on the first play. Bronc
Pfisterer, as he did on the previous score, kicked
the extra point giving the Tigers a 20-0 lead.
“Getting all those
opportunities that early helped our defense a lot,” said Dewitz. “You can’t turn the ball over two times in
the first quarter and expect to win – against anybody. That gave our defense enough rest to play a
good ball game.”
The onslaught
continued in the second and third quarters.
Johnson scored on a five-yard run with
With the first unit
still on the field the second half, Dewitz fired a
25-yard touchdown pass to Spielman. Three minutes later Johnson ran his third
touchdown in from 17 yards out.
“We didn’t leave the
first team in to run up the score,” Currence
explained. “We haven’t been playing too
well in the third quarter all season. We
wanted, for the first time, to carry over the good play we had in the first
half into the second half.
“We don’t want to
make a fuss about it, but we wanted to be sure Brian was back. We wouldn’t have been sure until we’ve seen a
good third quarter from our offense. We
did that to discipline our offense to play good third-quarter football, he
continued.
“You can’t give the
opponent a good ball game just because your second team is in there. Brian in there gave us the spirit we
needed. Our offense hasn’t played
flawless ball like this before.”
Skeggs concurred Currence on that point.
“They needed to get
things together,” he said. “I would have
done the same thing if my quarterback was out two weeks. I know they didn’t want us to score, but we
were able to do that.”
The Eagles got their
sole score when Tiger Jeff Smith intercepted a pass, but fumbled it back on the
runback, the Eagles taking possession at the hosts’ two-yard line after the
double turnover.
Steve Martin scored
on a two-yard run with 38 seconds left in the game.
With seven seconds
left sophomore Cornell Jackson dashed 60 yards for the final Tiger score of the
evening.
Johnson gained 129 of
the Tigers’ 304 rushing yards.
CENTRAL-HOWER………..
6
STATISTICS
M C
First downs rushing 14 4
First downs passing 7 3
First downs by penalty 0 2
Total
first downs 21 9
Yards gained rushing 316 91
Yards lost rushing 12 4
Net
yards rushing 304 91
Net yards passing 156 67
Total
yards gained 460 158
Passes attempted 22 13
Passes completed 12 5
Passes int. by 3 0
Yardage on pass int. 20 0
Times kicked off 8 2
Kickoff average 45.0 36.5
Kickoff return yards 19 100
Punts 2 3
Punting average 24.0 36.7
Punt return yards 22 0
Punts blocked by 0 0
Fumbles 2 2
Fumbles lost 1 2
Penalties 6 8
Yards penalized 86 78
Touchdowns rushing 5 1
Touchdowns passing 2 0
Miscellaneous touchdowns 0 0
Number of plays 63 43
Time of possession 27.10 20.50
Attendance 8,675
CENTRAL-HOWER…...
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