Cape Central gets past Lift for Life Academy behind Thomas’ 6 TD

CAPE GIRARDEAU — Zai’Aire Thomas' message to his Cape Central teammates at halftime was simple: “we just need to go play our game.”

The Tigers heard their star running back loud and clear.

Thomas ran for four touchdowns and caught two more to lead Cape Central to a 44-28 win over Lift for Life Academy Charter at Tigers Stadium on Friday, Oct. 18.

“I just try to be the leader I can,” Thomas said. “I trust my team. I told them we’ve got to obviously pick this up… that’s what we did.”

Thomas stole the show with touchdown runs of 29, 10, two, and four yards and a pair of electrifying touchdown receptions of 35 and 66 yards to spark a Tiger offense that saw all-state running back Keyshawn Boyd sit out the second half with an injury.

It was the closest win of the season for Cape Central (7-1), which led 28-22 at halftime before pulling away in the final two quarters.

“We started really well, and hats off to them for not laying down,” head coach Kent Gibbs said. “They got some dudes that can play, and they showed that tonight. They were really tough up front. We made some mistakes that kind of kept them around, but at the end of the day, hats off to them. I know they scored some points, but we also made some pretty good stops here towards the end of the game. So, you know, overall, I'm glad we got the win, and we'll see where that takes us.”

Thomas put the Tigers ahead immediately, handling an option pitch and zig-zagging his way through multiple defenders down the far sideline for the 29-yard touchdown. On the opening Lift for Life Academy possession, senior Cole Geiser blocked and recovered a punt, which led to a second Cape Central score.

It was 21-0 nine minutes into the ball game, but the Hawks refused to quit.

Lift for Life Academy responded in a hurry with a pair of game-altering explosive plays behind an Ekeilan Henderson 55-yard touchdown catch that was followed up with a Daishawn Houston 76-yard touchdown grab on the ensuing drive.

The miscues continued to pile up for the Tigers in the second quarter when they fumbled it at their own 15-yard-line, which led to a Jay’veon Scott 1-yard rushing touchdown for Lift for Life Academy. In what was a very methodical drive, Cape Central drove down to the Hawks' 2-yard-line with seven seconds left in the first half before Boyd fumbled the snap in wildcat formation and Lift for Life Academy took over.

But still, Gibbs was not flustered, and neither were his players.

“Other than getting drug by Jackson, we haven't been pressed yet,” Gibbs said. “We didn't get out on top and have somebody come back a whole lot, so we just said, basically, ‘guys, this is what we've been talking about all year. We’ve got to learn how to deal with this kind of stuff.’ And I thought we came out in the second half and we did.”

Gibbs’ speech worked, as Cape Central came out firing and shut down Lift for Life Academy 16-6 in the second half behind its ball-hawk defense and potent rushing attack.

Thomas finished the day with over 160 total yards of offense, while fill-in junior running back Torrance Murray made a splash with 54 rushing yards on seven carries.

In the first-ever meeting between Cape Central and its Class 3 District 2 foe, Lift for Life Academy was gashed with its own self-inflicted wounds behind 10 penalties in the second half alone. The Hawks entered the red zone just one time in the final two quarters against an opportunistic Tiger defense, as well.

With the regular season coming to a close next week, Gibbs said that the biggest key is to continue battling adversity and maintain self-belief.

“We're really beat up,” he said. “We got a lot of kids hurt. We'll just have to see where that goes. But the big thing is is it shows that, you're not going to beat everybody like we've been beating some folks. And when you get down a little bit on yourselves, or you get down with momentum, you just got to keep plugging and keep fighting. We tell them every day to just work and it'll turn out. And I hope we kind of learned that lesson, and was reinforced with some of the words, but also reinforced with the actions that we had tonight.”

Cape Central hosts Kennett in the regular season finale next Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.