Tigers lose district grasp

Good news was minimal for the Central football team on Thursday night.

The Tigers racked up just three first downs, surrendered 406 yards of total offense and suffered two major injuries.

The end result was a 35-14 loss to West Plains that put the Zizzers in control of the Class 4 District 1 race for a berth in the state playoffs.

"They physically dominated us," said Central coach Lawrence Brookins, whose team managed to keep it close until the fourth quarter. "They're a little bigger in real life than I thought they were on paper and on videotape."

West Plains' edge over Central in the district now is plenty big. The Zizzers, 2-0 in the district and 5-4 overall, can clinch a playoff berth if Sikeston (0-1, 2-6) beats Poplar Bluff (0-1, 2-6) tonight.

The Zizzers also have an edge in any potential three-way tie. With the maximum plus-26 rating so far in the district points system, West Plains can only be tied by Central and Poplar Bluff winner in points margin. If the three teams tied in points margin, since the only common opponents would be the district foes, West Plains' overall record would break the tie with Central (1-1, 2-7) and Poplar Bluff.

Poplar Bluff needs two wins and a Central to either lose or beat Sikeston by fewer than 13 points.

As if being a dealt a blow in the bid for a fifth straight district championship wasn't enough for Central, there were the injuries.

Quarterback Garrett Stevens injured his hand -- "It might not be good," Brookins said -- and was replaced by Tyrone Reece in the fourth quarter. Senior Andy Matthews suffered a neck injury on a kick return in the fourth quarter and was taken from the field on a stretcher and taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital. Brookins, who said he was headed to the hospital after the game, was hopeful the measures were precautionary.

Central still managed to hang around through three quarters, trailing just 14-7 heading to the fourth. The Tigers surrendered two touchdowns in a little more than 5 minutes, but seemed poised to at least cut into the margin after scoring on a 69-yard pass play from Reece to Ty Craft with 5 minutes, 10 seconds remaining.

But after an onsides kick, West Plains responded with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Matt Cromer to Andrew Lindeman on third down.

It was typical of the way the Zizzers extended clock-eating drives by converting on 12 of 15 third downs.

West Plains punted once in the first half, tried to punt one other time and was stopped in the second half only by two fumbles on their first two drives.

Danny Meyer, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound fullback, chewed up 189 yards on 28 carries and scored three touchdowns on the ground -- including a 75-yarder, and added one on a screen pass that covered 37 yards.

As for the Central offense, it netted just 37 yards rushing on 16 carries. Brandon Twiggs, who went over 100 yards last week in a victory against Poplar Bluff, was held to 13 yards on six carries.

Special teams was Central's area of advantage to keep the game close.

With West Plains leading 14-0 and having the ball on its 38 just 40 seconds from halftime, the Zizzers had a bad snap on a punt. Will Brown and Twiggs converged on the ball near the punter, and Twiggs covered the final yards to the end zone.