FB: No.12 Tigers shock 'Riders late, 28-23
Friday night in Linden. Cloudy finished with 71 yards on the ground
and 59 yards passing. (Photo by John Krueger)
LINDEN - The Center Roughriders flirted with disaster all night long in their contest with No.12-ranked Linden Kildare (Class 2A) and it was a dangerous game that ended up costing the Roughriders a victory when the Tigers drove 77 yards in six plays and took just 30 seconds off the clock in the final minute to secure a come-from-behind 28-23 victory here at Jack Hetherington Tiger Stadium on Friday.
Center build a 17-6 halftime lead by scoring a pair of touchdowns off of turnovers, but the Tiger offense controlled the ball in the final two quarters and just couldn't be stopped, outgaining the Roughriders 252-169 to outscore CHS 22-6 in the second half. Two Linden-Kildare receivers posted 100-yard nights, with J.J. Walker catching seven passes for 100 yards and Quan Warren tallying 100 yards and a score on five grabs.
There were two main thorns in the collective side of the Roughriders in this nondistrict setback - and one was intertwined with the second. The first was Linden-Kildare quarterback Kenneth Harrison. The senior completed 17-of-32 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 100 yards on 14 carries. Of his 350 total yards, 197 came in the second half.
"We knew all week he was going to be hard to stop," said Center Head Coach Kevin Goodwin. "There was no double he has a lot of talent and he'll be playing at a big-time [college]. He's a great ball player and great ball players make their plays."
And he did. One aspect of Harrison's game that made his difficult to stop was his ability to get extra yardage when defenders appeared to have him in their grasp. He also kept drives alive by hitting key passes or scrambling for yardage. The Tigers converted 5-of-7 third down conversions in the first half, finishing the game with a 5-of-11 ratio.
"Those third-down conversion just killed us," Goodwin explained. "It was like a body blow in boxing. The body blow knocks the wind out of you. You get things built up [defensively] and all the sudden it's third down and they give you a body shot by making the first down. And it's hard to keep getting up there like that.
"So what we need to do is the offense needs to make more plays and the defense needs to make more plays."
The scoring went back and forth throughout. Center took a 7-0 lead on Ryan Goodwin's 2-yard run after the Tigers muffed the opening kickoff. But Harrison pulled his team within 7-6 with a 10-yard scoring pass to Shock Linwood that capped a 14-play, 74-yard drive which took 5:39 off the clock. But the point after failed leaving L-K one point behind, 7-6.
The Riders added a 22-yard field goal by Felipe Parra on a drive that was aided by a 31-yard completion between Ryan Goodwin (7-of-17, 89 yards, TD) and Ty Hubbard (4-61, TD).
After Johnny Sudds picked off a Harrison pass and returned it 19 yards, Goodwin led the Roughriders to another scoring drive. It took a bit of luck for CHS to put the ball in the endzone as Goodwin rolled left on a 4th-and-3 at the L-K 27-yard line and his pass into the endzone went off the hands of Hubbard and a defender and Se'Ryan Netherly dove and caught the ball for the score. Felipe Parra added the point after and Center led 17-6 at the break.
"I didn't feel good about the first half because we weren't making the plays," Coach Goodwin stated. "[Linden-Kildare] was connecting on some third-and-longs. And when you look at it at the end of games, third down [conversions] and turnovers will make the difference nine times out of 10.
Center did move the ball in the second half, but it wasn't until the Tigers had come back to take the lead. Linden-Kildare received a three-yard scoring run by Harrison on a 59-yard drive that came after a Roughrider fumble. Warren added the two-point conversion on a reverse and Center's lead was trimmed to 17-14.
The squads then traded several possessions before the Tigers moved 74 yards in seven plays early in the final period. Harrison rolled right and found Josh Harrison behind the Roughrider secondary for a 16-yard touchdown. The try for two failed, but the Tigers led 20-17 with 8:05 remaining.
Coach Goodwin then inserted junior Cameron Cloudy into the quarterback spot and the backup responded by leading CHS to a 7-play, 64-yard drive that took 2:38. Cloudy accounted for 44 of the yards by either running or passing. He connected with Hubbard for a 13-yard scoring pass with 5:27 on the clock to give Center a three-point lead, 23-20. But the PAT was wide left.
"Ryan [Goodwin] is really potent for us at receiver," Coach Goodwin stated. "And when Johnny [Sudds] went down [with an injury] I felt like we lost a skilled player on the field. So we made that change to put Cameron at quarterback and give Ryan another opportunity to play and make plays."
After trading possessions, Center had a chance to ice the contest after taking over on its own 34 with 4:22 remaining. But after gaining a pair of first downs, the 'Riders were forced to punt.
Taking over on their own 23-yard line with just 1:08 remaining, Harrison led his team on the long drive for the winning score with just 38 seconds remaining.
Cloudy moved the offense when he was in the backfield. He finished the night with 71 yards on 13 carries, while completing 4-of-11 passes for 59 yards, a TD and an interception.
J'Von Jones caught three passes for 39 yards for CHS, while Netherly hauled in two for 38 yards and a score and Tre Sudds rushed for 67 yards on 14 carries and caught two passes for 10 yards.
On the defensive side, Netherly picked off two passes, while Kevinski Pitts recovered a pair of fumbles.
The task ahead for Center won't get any easier next week when the Roughriders host Arp at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Arp was ranked 14th in Class 2A this week.
STATS AT A GLANCE
CHS LK
First Downs 15 21
Rushes-Yds. 39-153 28-163
Passing Yds. 148 250
Total Yds. 301 413
Passes 11-28-1 16-32-3
Punts 6-27.1 2-30.2
Fumbles 4-2 2-2
Penalties 6-68 3-29
Scoring by Quarters
Center 07 10 00 06 = 23
Linden-K 06 00 08 14 = 28
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
Rushing
Center: Cameron Cloudy 13-71; Tre Sudds 14-67; Ryan Goodwin 8-16 TD. L-K: Kenneth Harrison 14-100; Shock Lindwood 13-51; Quan Warren 1-12.
Passing
Center Ryan Goodwin 7-17-0 89 yards TD; Cameron Cloudy 4-11-1 59 yards TD. L-K: Kenneth Harrison 17-32-3 250 yards 3TD.
Receiving
Center: Ty Hubbard 4-61 TD; J'Von Jones 3-39; Se'Ryan Netherly 2-38 TD; Tre Sudds 2-10. L-K: J.J. Walker 7-100; Quan Warren 5-100; Cody Belyeu 2-16; Shock Linwood 2-18 TD; Josh Harrison 1-16 TD.
Interceptions
Center: Se'Ryan Netherly 2-50; Johnny Sudds 1-19. L-K: Xavious Allen 1-24.
Fumble Recoveries
Center: Kevinski Pitts 2. L-K: Casey Wacasey 1; Shock Linwood 1.
Records/Up Next
Center 1-1 / Sept. 10 vs. Arp; L-K 2-0 / Sept. 10 vs. Queen City.