To say that Central almost gave away its homecoming finale against East Hamilton would have been an understatement.
The Purple Pounders were hit with 13 penalties for 115 yards, had two touchdowns called back, missed two field-goal tries, had an extra point blocked and gave up two Hurricanes touchdowns in the final 2:14 of the fourth quarter, the last of which forced overtime.
But in overtime, Demarcus Rogers scored on a 7-yard run and the Pounders (6-4) held East Hamilton to win 27-21 and clinch a Class 4A playoff berth.
Central’s DeHart Hubbard scored two touchdowns on four carries and finished with 119 yards as the Pounders totaled 286 yards rushing.
“This was just a big win for us – so big,” said Rogers, who ran for 76 yards. “We were able to overcome adversity. In the past we would put our heads down, but we continued to fight and did what we had to do to get the win.”
Central coach Sam Montgomery acknowledged that the team had some work to do before its playoff game.
“I can’t take too many like this,” he said. “We made a lot of mistakes, some of which were mental. This is a young team, but I hope we don’t have any more like this. The kids remained tough, and we as a team are going to build on this win and correct mistakes.”
Hubbard’s second touchdown, from 37 yards out, put Central up 21-7 with 5:20 remaining and the Pounders seemed to be cruising behind a defense that had shut down the Hurricanes rushing attack.
East Hamilton took to the air, with quarterback Chris Moore connecting with Andrew Leonard for a 45-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14. Leonard then recovered an onside kick on a perfectly executed attempt by kicker Logan Cornelius, and Moore connected with Cody Knox on a 24-yard pass to tie the game in the final minute.
After Rogers’ touchdown in overtime, followed by a blocked PAT, East Hamilton moved the ball to the Central 4-yard line, but Vonn Bell knocked down the potential game-winning pass in the end zone.
“Our defense has been good all year,” Montgomery said. “We had some success early tonight offensively, but we started to sputter inside the red zone.”
Said East Hamilton coach Ted Gatewood: “I’m proud of the fight in our kids tonight. They never gave up, and that’s all I can ask for from these kids. I feel like this was a building block for our program. I hate it for our seniors, but our whole team left it on the field tonight.”
Moore finished with 171 yards passing, but the Hurricanes were held to 27 yards on the ground. Tailback Logan Jackson had 30 yards for 76 yards, but Moore was sacked five times, losing 41.