The Baton Rouge area saw a monsoon for many of their games this week, and Central versus Zachary was no different – points were at a premium and everything was sloppy and inconsistent. You couldn’t put a drive together. Your only chance at scoring was from a big play, be it a turnover to give you great field position, or an explosive chunk play to give you chance to score. The Central Wildcats won this game 14-3 over the Zachary Broncos because they made more of those big plays.
The first instance of this came on consecutive in the first quarter, on Zachary’s 2nd drive of the game. After a missed field goal by Central (the first of four between the two teams in this game) and a pair of punts, Zachary QB Caleb Gonzales tried to throw the football – an inherently risky thing to do with the wetness of the football. It immediately bit the Broncos, as Central DB Ranel Steven made a big play to pick off the ball and give the Wildcats the ball in Zachary territory. The very next play, RB Shane Brown broke off a huge run all the way down to the 1 yard line, where QB Jackson Firmin finished the drive with a QB sneak one play later. Zachary went from having the ball in a scoreless game to down a touchdown in a blink of an eye.
The rest of the first half was completely uneventful – offense was nearly impossible to come by in these conditions. The second half opened with an explosive run from one of the most impressive players on the field tonight, Zachary RB Da’vekio Ruffin. Zachary had little to hang their hat on offensively today, but Ruffin still shined. He was extremely physical, bouncing off defenders and fighting for extra yards all night. He finally broke free on this run, which set up a Zachary field goal, their only points of the game.
What then occurred was the key sequence of the game, a rollercoaster that felt like it would never stop. Central gets the ball back after the field goal and Jackson Firmin immediately throws an interception, giving Zachary prime field position and a chance to take the lead for the first time all game. After going backwards for 3 plays and looking like they would squander the possession entirely, Caleb Gonzales somehow finds a receiver over the middle of the field on 4th and 20 to get right back into scoring position on the Central 2 yard line.
The very next play, on first and goal on the 2, a Zachary handoff was fumbled, recovered by Central DB Marvin Joseph, giving the Wildcats the ball back and erasing that Jackson Firmin mistake. Firmin then goes a step further just a few plays later. He threw a beautiful 77 yard touchdown pass to Keithon Womack, putting the Wildcats up 14-3, which was a two score lead that felt insurmountable given the conditions.
It was at this point where Central’s defense truly came alive. They were having a great game already, largely bottling up Zachary’s strong rushing attack, but the game took on a new tone when Zachary had to start throwing the ball to try to get back in the game. Central’s pass rush started to pin their ears back and completely take the game over. Central never was able to put any more points on the board, but it never mattered because Zachary could never even put up a fight on offense. The entire Central defensive line lived in the backfield in the 4th quarter, but it was KD Mays who made the biggest splash. He had 2 sacks just in the 4th quarter, including one on 4th down that effectively ended the game.
This win means a lot for a Central team with aspirations to make a deep playoff run. Zachary’s one of the most successful programs in the area, and knocking them off for the first time since 2016 has to feel great for everyone in the Wildcat community. On top of that, this win keeps Central alive in the district championship race, a great bounce back after their loss to Catholic 2 weeks ago. Zachary plays Catholic next week, and if Central can win their season finale over Scotlandville and Zachary can beat Catholic, the three teams will have a three-way shared district championship. That just adds one more layer to an already exciting matchup when Zachary hosts Catholic next week.
You can see Central Head Coach David Simoneaux‘s full post game interview here!
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