Center starts strong but falls to number one team
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Jamarian Evans searches for running room as a Bulldog defender bears down on him. (Lawrence Davis photo/The Light and Champion)
“These days, Carthage wins a lot of games before they even show up,” Coach Meeks said prophetically in an interview one day before kick-off. “When you get [teams] playing with that kind of confidence and energy, the ball gets rolling. First you recruit your own school—guys want to be a part of that—then you recruit from other places as well.”
The Texas football world has been powerless to stop the Bulldogs of Carthage for most of this century. Friday’s defeat of the Riders 64-28 on Bulldog turf was no exception.
The arrival of Scott Surratt in the early 2000s saw a two-year curve from mediocrity to state championship status. Since then, he has won more state championships than any team in our district (or last year’s district, or our district four years ago) has won district championships.
In short, their normal is several steps above everyone else’s best.
“That’s not a knock on Carthage,” Coach Meeks continued. “It’s giving them credit. Once you establish your brand as something desirable, it builds momentum. Coach Surratt is doing exactly what we want to do here in Center, and I think we’re on the way to achieving that.”
They may be. The evidence: the first six minutes of Friday night’s game. The Bulldogs drove the ball 75 yards, but it required one 3rd down conversion and one 4th down conversion to keep it going. With half the quarter gone, they led 7-0.
The Riders answered immediately with a hurry-up pace that reminded one of their play against Van in their huge win over the Vandals. Three first downs took Center to the red zone, and on 2nd down and 12 from the 20-yard line, Cash faked a handoff to Dixon and ran 20 yards for the tying touchdown.
“Guess what Carthage—we’ve come to play tonight,” long time announcer Stephen Shires said. “There’s your evidence that Center can play with a state elite.”
Both teams played clean, error free ball. It was the last such ball Center would play for the next two quarters.
On the next possession, Center committed a personal foul during the kick-off to give the Bulldogs the ball on the 49-yard line. On the next play Carthage scored with a 51-yard TD pass.
Score 14-7 Bulldogs
The Riders answered with 9-yards on the first three plays bringing up a big 4th and 2. Center decided to go for it from their own 34-yard line.
And it was here that the Bulldog virus—the one that invades opponents of the huge program and makes them weak, fidgety, and shaky—finally started its fever: the snap was high, QB Cash Cross fielded it, but his running back’s helmet whacked it on the way by. The result was a fumble for a loss, recovered by the Bulldogs.
Usually when the virus takes hold, the route begins. That’s one of its symptoms. It took the Bulldogs two plays to convert, but not before an unsportsmanlike penalty gave them a nice assist. Score 21-7 Bulldogs.
Roughriders took the next kick-off and had it three plays: one blocking penalty, one short pass to Mar Mar Evans, then a strip-sack of Cash, recovered by Carthage.
It took them one play to make a touchdown, taking the first quarter score to 28-7.
From there, both defenses tightened up. For Center’s p art, they got a two first down and an amazing catch by Mar Mar Evans (which would be the “Catch of the Game” brought by The Catch Restaurant in Center). It gave Center 1st and goal at the six.
The next three plays: a Dixon run to the 2. An 8-yard loss on an attempted QB option. Then a QB sack of Cross and a fumble, recovered by Bulldogs and returned to the 40.
But Center would hold and got the ball back inside Bulldog territory. However, Center punted with the ball landing deep in Center territory. With 5:12 to go in the half, the Bulldogs engineered a 4 minute and 30 second drive which shut the door on legitimate Roughrider hopes with a touchdown to close the half.
Halftime score 35-7 Bulldogs.
Both bands were coming off winning 1st Division ratings at UIL Marching Contest and both bands put on a fine show as they prepare for the state contest on November 1. It was also Senior Night at Carthage, so the introduction of their band seniors took almost 12 minutes, forcing the clock manager to put the halftime timer on hold so the band could perform. The dreaded penalty on the home team for exceeding the halftime limit—something no one in the press booth had ever seen—was not enforced this evening either. Halftime was just six or seven minutes longer than most. No harm, no foul.
Center got the ball to begin the half. Perhaps a quick score, a stop, and another score could get Center competitive again.
Jakevius Polk returned the kick-off 50 yards to the Carthage 47. But on second down, Quarterback Cash Cross threw an interception which was returned to the 42.
From there, Carthage scored back–to-back-toback touchdowns to ice the game. By the 4th quarter, the score was 56-7.
“Every time we’d get close to making this a game, either we’d make a mistake, there would be a killer penalty, or Carthage would get a turnover,” announcer Chase Mayfield said. “But that’s how champions make you play, I guess.”
In the 4th quarter with Carthage on offense, Jamarrion Crawford stole the ball from the tailback and run it all the way back for a touchdown.
On the next possession, Carthage manufactured a long drive to the 25-yard line where Crawford took the ball away from the runner and scored again, earning him the Center Motor Company Player of the game.
To close the game, both offenses put together scoring drives. Carthage went for two and succeeded. Final score 64-28 Bulldogs victory.
Two big take-aways from the annual Bulldog stomping: First, the Roughriders are still in control of their playoff lives.
If the team wins against Bullard and Brownsboro— and Center will be expected to win those games—it will be 2nd place going in to the playoffs.
Second, the game will be remembered for the incredible number of penalties: Center with 14 penalties and Carthage with 18, both totaling over 300 penalty yards.
“It was an ugly game,” Coach Meeks said after the game. “We now see what happens when you play on emotion instead of what we know and what we are supposed to do. Emotion is an important ingredient, but it can’t be the most important thing.”
This week’s varsity game has been moved to Thursday night at Roughrider Stadium when Center hosts the Bullard Panthers. Center is a 31-point favorite at home over the Panthers.