With its offense stalled, Central's football team was rescued by a stout defense and dazzling play on special teams.
The Purple Pounders lost three fumbles, tossed an interception and gave the ball up three more times on downs but managed to escape at East Hamilton with a 14-7 Region 2-4A win Friday night.
The Hurricanes defense was stout in its own right, but the hosts also struggled with turnovers and lost two of their five fumbles.
Central (3-2, 2-0) struck first behind workhorse Michael McGhee. The senior running back punched in a touchdown from 2 yards out with 3:41 to play in the first quarter.
East Hamilton (2-3, 1-1) grabbed a 7-6 lead in the second quarter on an 8-yard strike from Haynes Eller to Jaxon Knight. That score stood until the fourth-quarter heroics from Central's Hunter Jones.
Jones broke through the line on a punt and blocked it. As the ball tumbled back toward the East Hamilton end zone, he scooped it up and scored. McGhee added a two-point conversion run to make it 14-7 with 11:11 to play, and the defenses traded stops from there.
"We saw a weakness in the middle and were able to exploit it with one of our best linebackers," Central coach Curt Jones said. "I'm proud of our defense. They played lights out all night and made plays when they had to."
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com