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Scores and Photos of Friday Night High School Football - Aug. 21
Two things were very apparent at Central High School following Notre Dame's 40-6 victory over the host Purple Pounders in both teams' season opener Friday night. The Fighting Irish are the state's fourth-ranked Class 3A team for a reason, and the Pounders might be the most mysterious team in town.
One thing was absolutely certain: The Pounders made the Irish earn it despite the final score. Notre Dame eventually pulled away with 25 unanswered points after Central closed to within 15-6 in the second half.
"They were a bit of the unknown to us, for sure," said Notre Dame coach Charles Fant. "They were multiple, that's for sure, and I thought they played hard. We started off slow but came out in the last half and played much better."
Notre Dame's bread-and-butter rushing attack was stymied for the most part by an aggressive Pounders defense, but with a talented quarterback such as Alex Darras, it was only a matter of time. Darras threw four touchdown passes to four receivers and added a 42-yard field goal in an impressive opening game for the senior.
"It helps us that we can respond when they take away one part of our game. Other teams definitely have a lot to prepare for against us," said Darras, who completed 8 of 17 passes for 173 yards.
On the subject of hard to prepare for, Central pretty much ran every offense ever created, it seemed, and it was effective at times. After opening in a wishbone for the first half, Central ran the wing-T and the spread in the final half. A result was Taven Spann's 74-yard scamper on the half's second play from a shotgun formation. Central wound up with 216 rushing yards.
"We didn't have much to go on besides what we had heard and seen in the jamboree," Fant said. "They played hard. I was happy with the discipline we showed and really pleased with our young receivers."
Darras hit on TD tosses of 35, 18, 33 and 28 yards. Seniors Tyler Enos and Allan Dunley each caught a score as the Irish led 15-0 at the break. Junior Calvin Sims and sophomore Caleb Edwards added TD catches in the second half to put it away. Tailback Ricky Ballard broke a 40-yard run for a score to salt the game away and finished with 77 yards on 12 carries.
Central got 154 rushing yards from Spann on 18 carries and gives first-year head coach Gary Bloodsaw something to build on. Notre Dame will play at Tyner next week in what should be another big test, while Bloodsaw and his Pounders will seek their first win at Soddy-Daisy.
"We have to do a better job of getting our feet underneath us in the second half," Bloodsaw said. "We got beat, but there are a lot of things to build on and we just need to shake it off and get back at it."
Contact James Beach at sports@timesfreepress.com