Central Catholic defeats McKinley 38-6, McKinley falls to 1-3

On this muddy night in East Baton Rouge, the McKinley Panthers squared up against the Central Catholic Eagles for what proved to be a lopsided matchup. McKinley choosing to defer, caused Catholic to start with the ball on their own 45 after a good return. Capping off a four play drive, Catholic got on the board first with a 28 yard run from their star running back Damondrick Blackburn. After a McKinley three and out, Catholic started their second drive on their own 37 yard line. Not wasting any time, Central got another touchdown on a halfback sweep to Blackburn. With just under seven minutes left in the first quarter, McKinley was already looking at a two score deficit. However the Eagles defense was still looking strong forcing another possession where the Panthers were not able to get a first down.

With the ball on McKinley’s 42 yard line, Central Catholic started their third possession of the game. During this 6 play drive, Central was able to get another touchdown for Damondrick Blackburn from 16 yards out making the score 19-0 still in the first quarter. Finally able to get some momentum on offense, McKinley running back Jeremiah Allen broke open a play gaining 34 yards and putting the Panthers in striking distance from 31 yards out. Yet, the Central Catholic defense was not going out without a fight. Gaining only 16 yards in their next 8 plays, McKinley was forced to go for it on fourth down to try and reduce the deficit early in the second quarter. The Eagles forced an incompletion on McKinley’s fourth down attempt giving Central Catholic the ball back on their own 15 yard line. After a couple chunk gains, the Eagles were looking at 3rd and 3 on McKinley’s 46 yard line. Dialing up an inside zone run, Damondrick Blackburn was able to get his 4th touchdown of the game making two McKinley defenders miss in the process. The score now 25-0, Central elected to go with an onside kick with 4:19 still left in the 2nd. Recovering this kick and starting on McKinley’s 43 yard line, Central Catholic fumbled on the first play. McKinley recovered the fumble, but was not able to get anything going and was forced to punt three plays later. Central Catholic brought the house and blocked the McKinley punt attempt setting the Eagles up with prime field position at McKinley’s 21 yard line. Two plays later, the Eagles connected on a pass to make it 32-0 two minutes before halftime.

With this game essentially out of reach before halftime, the second half started with a running clock. McKinley started with the ball putting together a 6 play drive that ultimately resulted in a punt attempt. With a bad snap on the punt attempt, Central Catholic was able to start their drive on McKinley’s 29 yard line. In seven plays, the Central Catholic offense was able to score again, making the score 38-0 and basically out of reach for McKinley. With both team’s second units now in the game and the clock stopping for nothing, the rest of the game went by rather quickly. McKinley was able to get on the board with a late rushing touchdown to end the game, making the final score 38-6.

Next Game: @ St. Amant 7 p.m. Friday, October 8th