Central blows past Wilkinson County

A sloppy win is still a win in the books for the Central Chargers.

In what was a penalty-filled first half, the Chargers managed to outlast and shut out Wilkinson County 31-0 on Thursday night.

“It is great to be a Central Charger right now,” Central head coach Jesse Hicks said. “It was great our defense got that goose egg on the scoreboard. We wanted to start the year on a great note, and sure we made some mistakes, but the first game is going to be that way. But I thought we played a very good game.”

Led by quarterback Derrick Evans and running back Antonio Sanders, Central (1-0) controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the night, as Sanders rushed for 179 yards on 26 carries.

But Evans was the player Hicks and the Chargers went to when they desperately needed a play -- and Evans delivered. Evans scrambled out of the pocket when he was forced to and made plays through the air and on the ground, connecting with senior wide receiver Jamarcus Wynes on a 15-yard touchdown pass on the Chargers’ first drive.

Late in the second quarter, Evans kept a drive alive twice with his legs, one time journeying down the left sideline 18 yards for a first down before finally diving across the goal line after crossing the entire field and up the right sideline for a 14-yard score. Evans completed 13 passes for 211 yards and rushed for 77 yards on 10 carries.

Sanders added a 16-yard scoring run to start the third quarter, and after Evans completed a 55-yard pass down to the Wilkinson County goal line, Evans punched the ball across the end zone from a yard out to push the Central lead to 28-0.

“Everything about (Thursday) except the penalties was great,” Evans said. “Our defense, man, those are the good guys. They get the offense the ball back, and they just dominated the entire night. And our backfield? Just huge all around. We play together and play with heart.”

Senior place-kicker Temia Flint capped the scoring with a 27-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter. Flint also was perfect on all four extra point attempts.

Wilkinson County quarterback Tylan Grable completed 14-of-31 passes for 123 yards. As for next week, the Chargers already were looking ahead to their contest with Howard.

“That is going to be special,” Evans said. “I’m friends with a lot of them. We’re all friends with a lot of them. It is going to be a great, great game.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Central blows past Wilkinson County ."