Jackson prevails over Central 24-14 in rivals' 100th meeting

~ The win was the fourth straight for Jackson in the rivalry.

The 100th meeting between football rivals Central and Jackson on Friday had something few games in the series have had recently -- drama.

Hykeem Hammonds' 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown -- on the only kick of Jackson kicker Grant Ressel's five kickoffs that did not to go into the end zone for a touchback -- with 3 minutes remaining cut host Jackson's lead to 24-14.

The Indians' vaunted rushing attack converted on a third-and-4 with about 2 minutes left and ran the clock out to ensure the 24-14 victory, the fourth straight for the Indians over Central.

"In high school football, you never know how it's going to be," Jackson coach Carl Gross said. "Tonight was one heck of a football game for both teams. Central can be proud of the way they played. Our kids are physically drained."

The 10-point scoring margin was the closest game since Jackson's 24-14 victory in 1996. Jackson continued its recent dominance in the rivalry, winning for the 11th time in the past 13 meetings. The Indians had blown the Tigers out the past two years, outscoring Central 79-6 in that span.

Jackson improved to 5-1 and 2-0 in the conference. Central fell to 2-4 and 0-1 in conference play and still leads the series 56-37-7.

Captains from the Jackson and Central football teams faced off for the coin toss Friday in Jackson. The Indians won the 100th meeting between the two teams 24-14 on Friday night. (Don Frazier)

"Emotions play a big part in this football game," Gross said. "I'm proud we got the win, but I'm a little disappointed in the way we did it. I thought we could have been a little more dominant running it."

Watching the first drive of the game, Jackson appeared ready to roll away with another rout over Central. Jackson senior running back Trae Smith rushed for 50 yards on his first five carries, and Cody Randen shoved the ball in the end zone from 3 yards out for a 7-0 lead.

From the first drive through the rest of the half, Central's defense stiffened. Jackson could get little going in its running game, but the Indians' defense kept Central's running game grounded as well.

"Our rushing defense was pretty decent the rest of the game," Central coach Lawrence Brookins said. "We had trouble running the football all game long."

When the Indians could not get anything going with their backs, they turned to quarterback Rex Meyr. After a short punt and a personal foul gave Jackson the ball on Central's 21 midway through the second quarter, the Indians gained eight yards on three plays. On fourth-and-2. Meyr faked a hand-off and ran a bootleg 13 yards for a score.

Jackson led 14-0 at the half.

Central had a first-and-goal at Jackson's 8 with 2 minutes remaining in the first half, but a 9-yard loss on first down doomed the drive. Tyler McNabb missed on a 35-yard field goal as Central came away without scoring.

The Tigers got a break early in the third when George Hamilton scooped up a fumbled pass reception by Derek Walker and scampered about 40 yards for a score to cut the lead to 14-7.

Meyr helped push the game out of reach early in the fourth period. What looked like a short run or maybe a loss turned into a 20-yard gain when Meyr switched fields. A few plays later, Meyr hit Luke Crader for a 13-yard pass to the 2-yard line, which set up Smith's touchdown run.

"We played good enough at times to win, and everyone here saw that," Brookins said. " We let them off the hook. That No. 12, Meyr, really stole it from us. We didn't contain him, and we worked on that all week."

Despite an ankle injury which limited him to a little more than two quarters of play, Smith finished with 146 yards rushing on 26 carries. Randen was lost with an injury in the first half and did not return.

"I sprained my ankle down there about when Cody got the touchdown [in the first], and when Cody got hurt I just had to fight through it," Smith said. "It was just adrenaline. I'm going to feel it tomorrow."

Jackson 24, Central 14

Central 0 0 7 7 -- 14

Jackson 7 7 0 10 -- 24

First Quarter

J -- Cody Randen 3-yard run (Grant Ressel kick)

Second Quarter

J -- Rex Meyr 13-yard run (Ressel kick)

Third Quarter

C -- George Hamilton 40-yard fumble recovery (Tyler McNabb kick)

Fourth Quarter

J -- Trae Smith 2-yard run (Ressel kick)

J -- Ressel 29-yard field goal

C -- Hykeem Hammonds 95-yard kickoff return (McNabb kick)

Central Jackson

First downs 8 15

Rushes-yards 18-59 54-254

Passing yards 78 49

Passes 10-22-0 3-7-0

Punts 6-36.7 4-34.5

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 5-45 4-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Central, Hykeem Hammonds 12-17; Blake Slattery 5-14; Joey Uhls 1-28; Jackson, Trae Smith 26-146; Cody Randen 10-35; Josh Wheeler 3-11; Drew Bucher 4-8; Rex Meyr 8-31; Adam Zweigart 1-4; Zach Humphrey 2-19.

PASSING -- Central, Slattery 10-22-0-78; Jackson, Meyr 3-7-0-49.

RECEIVING -- Central, George Hamilton 5-42, Hammonds 1-0; Tyler McNabb 1-7; Eric Ennis 1-10; Uhls 1-8; Derek Walker 1-11; Jackson, Luke Crader 2-26; Austin Leimer 1-23.