The Central Tigers found themselves in a share for the District AII-3 lead at the end of last Friday night after the Tigers knocked off county rival Gore 2014 at Tiger Stadium to clinch a Class A, Division II playoff berth.
The Tigers (6-3 overall, 5-1 in district play) are tied with Talihina (8-1, 5-1) and Tulsa Regent Prep (81, 5-1) atop the district standings. The Rams knocked off the Golden Tigers 41-26 last Friday night at Talihina’s Doc Robinson Stadium to not only hand Talihina its first loss of the season, but create the three-way tie. If the playoffs were to begin tonight, Central will be in the third spot in the district for playoff seeding purposes.
Central will entertain Liberty at 7 p.m. this Friday at Tiger Stadium for Senior Night, while Talihina will visit Mounds and Tulsa Regent Prep will entertain Wewoka.
If Central, Talihina and Tulsa Regent Prep all three win, then it will come down to district points. Heading into the final week of the regular season, Talihina has 60 points, Tulsa Regent Prep has 56 points and Central has 51 points. If Central wins against Liberty, and Talihina and Tulsa Regent Prep both lose, the district title outright will go to the Tigers.
“At this point in time, we just need to continue to take care of our end, and don’t worry about (this) Friday night against Liberty,” Central coach Jeremy Thompson said. “We are in third place as we speak at the moment going into Week 10, but anything can happen. There’s so many scenarios out there when it comes to (district) points. All three of us can win, and we can still be district champions (get the No. 1 seed from the district) depending on the margin of victory. That’s the biggest key behind all of it as far as that goes.”
The Tigers took a 6-0 lead after the opening period on Braxin Goodson’s 3-yard touchdown run as the twopoint conversion failed. Goodson rushed for 196 yards and a TD, while passing for 34 yards — including a 24-yarder to Gavin Randolph and a 10-yarder to Nathan Vann on fourth down to keep a drive going.
Central upped its advantage to 14-0 at halftime on Ryker Miller’s 4-yard TD run. Goodson hit Vann on the two-point conversion.
After the Pirates cut the deficit to 14-8 in the third quarter on Bladin McCartney’s 35-yard touchdown run and a Devon Mannon twopoint conversion, the insurance touchdown for Central was set up by Aiden Smith’s 55yard interception return to the Gore 1-yard line later in the period. After a play for a loss, Dillon Miller scored from six yards out, but the twopoint conversion pass failed to keep Central ahead 20-8.
The Pirates (5-4, 3-3), who lost the ball four times to the Tigers, scored later one in the fourth quarter as Tate Brooksher, seeing his first playing time since the first half of the Wewoka game on Oct. 17 due to injury, scored on a 4-yard TD run to cut the deficit to 20-14, but got no closer.
“We just can’t have turnovers,” Gore coach Brandon Ellis said. “Anytime you turn the ball over four times to a good team, the outcome usually isn’t very good.”
The Pirates will be in a must-win situation to make the playoffs this Friday night as they welcome Allen to K.G. Horn Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. If Gore wins, the Pirates will snatch the fourth seed from the district — which also will happen if Central beats Liberty, whether Gore wins or not.
However, if Allen upsets Gore and Liberty upsets Central, the Pirates totally will be out of the playoffs.
