Lawrence Central holds off Warren Central 21-14
By CRAIG DRAGASH
ISL Correspondent
Fortunately for Lawrence Central, winning is more important than how you look doing it.
The 5A No. 1 Bears committed 12 penalties and two turnovers, but they still survived a late charge to hold on for a 21-14 win Friday in sectional play at Warren Central.
Drake Christen finished the night with 200-all purpose yards, including 168 on the ground.
He’s our Mr. Football said Lawrence Central coach Jayson West. He does a lot of the little things right.
Lawrence Central, now 11-0, advances to next week’s Sectional 5 final against North Central, who was victorious over Tech 20-7. Lawrence Central will be battle-tested after facing one of the state’s best defenses.
You’re not going to make big plays on them, you just have to grind, said LC head coach Jayson West. You can’t let the bad plays get in your head. We just keep fighting, and that’s who we are.
Warren Central finished with a 5-6 record.
After both teams went three and out on their first possessions, Lawrence Central put together a 15-play, 84-yard scoring drive as Christen threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Darren Taylor to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. The highlight of the drive came on a 19-yard run by Christen on third-and-17.
With 5:03 remaining in the second quarter, LC took advantage of a muffed punt and recovered at Warren Central’s 38-yard line. The Bears took the ball down to the Warrior’s 9-yard line. After a one-yard loss and a false start penalty that backed the Bears up to the 15-yard line, Christen found Trey White in the end zone to give LC a 14-0 advantage with 56 seconds left in the half. Warren ran out the clock and went into the locker room down by 14.
An interception by Jamaal Bridges gave Warren possession at the Lawrence Central 46-yard line; the Warriors were unable to convert on third-and-8, but a fake punt gave Warren new life with a first down at the LC 28. However, after a delay of game penalty on third-and-9, followed by a two yard run by Darius Lee, Anthony Cooper-Taylor hit Raymond Epps for a 12-yard gain, but it was short of the first down giving possession back to Lawrence Central at the LC 22 yard line.
The Bears went three and out on their first possession of the second half, and Warren capitalized with a Cooper-Taylor touchdown pass to Darius Lee to cut the deficit to 14-7. Then, with good field position at the Warren 47-yard line, Lawrence Central soon found itself with a fourth-and-2 from Warren’s 27-yard line. Christen ran the ball to the right and into the end zone to stretch Lawrence Central’s lead to 21-7 with 9:18 to play.
Warren started its next drive at its 38, and on fourth-and-7, the Warriors used their final timeout with 7:42 remaining to set up their play. Jeff George, in for an injured Cooper-Taylor, hit Krishawn Hogan to convert. George drove Warren down to the LC 16-yard line, but a sack by Nikia Averitte backed the Warriors up five yards, and on third down, George threw a pass that was deflected by LC’s Brandon Lee and and through the hands of Warren’s Hogan and Treon Mills. George fumbled after being hit on fourth down , and the Bears regained possession with 6:16 remaining at their 26.
The Bears were able to run about two and a half minutes off the clock before punting the ball back to the Warriors, who had great field position at the 50-yard line. On fourth-and-4 from the LC 44-yard line, a pass interference call gave the Warriors a first down at the Bears’ 28-yard line. Two plays later, a facemask penalty after a completion by George to Hogan gave Warren the ball at the 8-yard line. On the next play, another pass interference call gave Warren a first and goal from the 3-yard line. George then found Hogan for a score to cut LC’s lead to 21-14 after the extra point.
Lawrence Central recovered the onside kick and was almost able to run the clock out before having to punt to Warren. With no timeouts remaining, and 13 seconds left, George completed a pass to Lee for seven yards in bounds, and George was unable to get back and spike the ball to stop the clock, and the Bears held on for a 21-14 victory.
Warren Central linebacker Tim Kimbrough, a Georgia recruit, didn’t have as much of an impact as he has had in recent games. He had no sacks and two tackles for loss for a combined total of three yards.
We did something most teams don’twe played him straight up said West. We can’t change who we are for one player.
