After a loss in week one of the season to Park Place, Central Holmes football coach Jim Crowder was trying to find what his team did best.
It seems he found the solution.
The Trojans bounced back from that loss to shut out East Rankin 35-0 on Friday night to even their record at 1-1 on the season. Crowder said he moved some people around, mainly moving C.J. Head to quarterback and Jace Dean to receiver.
“We went back to what we do and it made all the difference in the world,” Crowder said. “I was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and just made the switch at quarterback. I think we threw five passes. We just lined up and ran the ball and did what we do. I think we physically wore them down as the game went on and the changes we made on offense put some guys in a better situation.”
The Trojans got the ball to start the game and ended up turning it over on downs. On East Rankin’s first play from scrimmage, Wykece Johnson scooped up an East Rankin fumble and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown. Owen O’Briant booted the PAT and Central Holmes led 7-0.
The Patriots threatened to tie the game on the next series as they drove inside the Central Holmes 5, but the Trojans stopped them on four plays to take the ball back and preserve the shutout.
“I was pleased with how well we stopped the run on defense,” Crowder said. “We continue to play well up front. We played well up front and I thought that helped our linebackers play a lot better this week. We got a lot of production from Wykece and Jurdan Engle. Elijah Steen and Barrett Fondren also stepped in and gave us some production and depth at linebacker.”
The Trojans added one more second half score as they drove 54 yard in 11 plays as Head scored on a 7-yard run. O’Briant’s PAT gave Central Holmes a 14-0 lead at the half.
The Trojans started to get moving in the second half and gradually extended the lead.
The first score came as Johnson got loose on a big run, ripping off 69 yards for a touchdown on the Trojans’ first drive of the second half. The PAT was good and Central Holmes led 21-0.
East Rankin then lost the ensuing kickoff and Central Holmes wasted little time capitalizing. This time, Head capped off a five-play drive with a 7-yard touchdown run to take a 28-0 lead.
The Trojans used another turnover to get their last score as Noah Steen intercepted an East Rankin pass and returned it 60 yards to the East Rankin 5. Johnson scored on the next play and the PAT gave the Trojans a 35-0 lead.
“There were some turnovers on both sides but I thought we did a good job of taking advantage of those and getting points out of them. We ran the ball for more than 300 yards, easily. Wykece probably had 200 yards and C.J. had at least 100 yards. We are still developing on offense, but I think we are going to get there. C.J. will get better with every snap at quarterback. But for us to be great, we have to throw the ball more effectively so people can’t load the box on us.”
The Trojans will hit the road this week as they travel to Ethel.
Ethel is 0-1 on the season after losing 34-6 to West Lowndes in week one. In that game, Ethel had just 163 yards of total offense with 114 passing.
“Just going off what I have seen of them in the past, they are going to be well coached and fundamentally sound,” Crowder said. “They have so many athletes that can hurt you in space. They have some explosive players that can hurt you. We know we will have our work cut out for us. We have to have our guys line up in the right spots.”
