Cape Central football team advances to district final with 41-12 thumping of Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Week 11 Cape Central Tigers don't want anything to do with the Week 3 Cape Central Tigers.

They spent 48 minutes Friday night distancing themselves from a crew that sustained a five-point loss to Sikeston nearly two months earlier on the very same field.

"That team, everybody was like, 'I want to do this, I want to do that,'" Central multi-talented senior Al Young. "Today it was, 'We need to do this, we need to do that,' and everybody did what they had to do."

What the Week 11 Tigers did was confidently reserve a spot for Week 12 with a dominating 41-12 win over Sikeston.

"We had a talk about being a team, like being a team on field, tackling together, working together, celebrating together, and it just came out tonight," Central senior defensive lineman Patrick Buck said. "We showed up and showed out."

Cape Central's Aaron Harris carries against Sikeston's Phayzun Fobbs during the first quarter of a Class 4 District 1 semifinal Friday, Oct. 30, 2015 in Sikeston, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

The third-seeded Tigers reached the Class 4 District 1 championship game for the third consecutive year and will host fourth-seeded Farmington on Friday with a chance to win its third straight title. Farmington upended top-seeded Hillsboro 40-14 in the other semifinal.

The Tigers (7-4) parlayed their previous two district crowns into a spot in the state championship game in 2014 after reaching the semifinals in 2013.

"We're starting to play at the level we was playing at last year, and the team, everyone coming together, everybody bonding, everybody doing their job, and it's working perfect," said Young, who had two touchdown catches and a scoring run Friday.

The Week 11 Tigers had the earlier version to thank for having to pull an "upset" of second-seeded Sikeston (7-4), which Central handled with ease twice last season, winning by a combined 103-14, but lost to in Week 3 by a score of 23-18.

"Coach showed us a lot of films, a lot of plays that ... they played with like, more passion. They wanted it more last time," said Central junior quarterback Kway'Chon Chisom, who rushed for 123 yards, including a blazing 34-yard bootleg TD run in the second quarter. "We just tried to come out here and play with a lot of passion, like this is our last game, because it could be."

Cape Central's Kway'Chon Chisom leaves Sikeston defenders behind on his way to the end zone for a touchdown during the second quarter of a Class 4 District 1 semifinal Friday, Oct. 30, 2015 in Sikeston, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

The Tigers left nothing to chance as they manhandled the Bulldogs in building a 27-0 lead by halftime. The score wasn't really indicative of the lopsided nature as Sikeston's only first down of the half came on a Tigers penalty on its first possession of the game. Central meanwhile had 10 first downs and held a 266-23 advantage in total yards in the half, with 234 yards rushing on 33 carries.

"They smoked us tonight," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said. "They controlled the line-of-scrimmage. They ran to the ball and made plays. They were just a superior football team."

Sophomore running back Aaron Harris, who had 81 yards rushing by intermission and 102 on the night, scored the game's first points on a 14-yard run on the Tigers' second possession of the game, which covered 80 yards in nine plays.

Harris' run through the right side of the line was followed by Bennett Osburn's PAT for a 7-0 led with 3 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first quarter. It was the first of four straight possessions that resulted in Central touchdowns.

Young scored from 1 yard out on the first play of the second quarter, and he hauled in an 8-yard scoring pass from Chisom on a fade pattern while tightly defended in the right corner of the end zone at the 5:23 mark of the period. Central recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and Chisom then darted around the right end and between Bulldogs defenders to cap a six-play drive that started at the Sikeston 48, giving the Tigers a 27-0 lead.

"They were a lot different team as far as the physicality of things," Gibbs said about the Tigers he saw Friday night as compared to the Central team earlier in the season. "It seems like their defense was a whole lot better. They did a nice job of executing a lot of different things on offense that they weren't able to do earlier in the year, or at least attempted to [do]. The Chisom kid has really improved a lot. He's just a phenomenal athlete and just does a good job of running their offense."

Chisom finished off the first half by twice taking a knee as the Tigers were content to take a 27-point lead into halftime.

Central held Sikeston to 212 yards overall and 2.9 yards per carry in the earlier meeting, but the defense took it to a new level in the fist half, allowing 20 rushing yards on 12 carries. Two Sikeston completions netted just 3 yards.

Buck, a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder, made his presence felt throughout. His run-stuffing ability was highlighted when he teamed up with senior linebacker Corey Starks to pull down Sikeston quarterback Nathan Hampton for a 2-yard loss on a third-and-1 play that forced the Bulldogs to punt on their final possession of the half.

"We played shutdown defense, and I love that about us," Buck said. "We have a strong defensive line to cornerbacks and safeties. I like how we play defense. It shuts down everything when we do it right."

Buck also loved the fact the SEMO Conference North champions were able to avenge their only conference loss.

"We came back, and repaid them what we owed them," Buck said. "It feels great to finish. We couldn't do that earlier. It feels good to do it now."

For good measure, Central threw a 12-play scoring drive at the Bulldogs to open the second half , with Chisom starting a running clock by running in the conversion to up the lead to 35-0.

At that point of the game, Central held a 318-23 advantage in total yards.

Central's only blips were two second-half fumbles, one returned 26 yards for a touchdown by Sikeston lineman Josh Stinnett in the third quarter and the other by backups late in the game.

Central coach Nathan Norman said he was pleased with the Tigers' execution in all three areas of the game -- offense, defense and special teams -- and said he believed the Tigers' postseason success over the past two years has played a role in his team peaking at the right time. The Tigers have won five of their last six games, including a 41-21 win over Farmington in Week 7.

"As a coach, you hate to say it, but I do feel confident in our kids in the playoffs right now because they've experienced it," Norman said. "They know what it's about. They're hungry. You get a young team and team that hasn't experienced the playoffs, hey, it's a grind, it's tough. It's a long season, but our kids know what it's like and I feel good. I feel good. I feel like they're confident and they're excited. They want what they had. When they get hungry, that's dangerous."

Cape Central 7 20 8 6 -- 41

Sikeston 0 0 6 6 -- 12

First quarter

C -- Aaron Harris 14 run (Bennett Osburn kick), 3:38

Second quarter

C -- Al Young 1 run (Osburn kick), 11:57

C -- Young 8 pass from Kway'chon Chisom (kick failed), 5:23

C -- Chisom 34 run (Osburn kick), 2:37

Third quarter

C -- Felawn Smith 9 run (Chisom run), 5:27

S -- Josh Stinnett 26 fumble (run failed), 2:12

Fourth quarter

C -- Young 8 pass from Chisom (kick failed), 11:56

S -- Justus Faulkner 19 pass from Nathan Hampton, 00:00

TEAM STATISTICS

C S

First downs 19 7

Rushes-yards 50-330 21-58

Passing yards 40 41

Passes 3-5-0 6-17-0

Punts-average 1-31 4-42.5

Fumbles-lost 3-2 2-1

Penalties-yards 7-65 6-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Central, Harris 17-102, Chisom 13-123, Young 7-35, Christian Mitchell 7-23, Smith 6-47; Sikeston, Earnest Fobbs 7-32, Victwon Riley 7-24, Faulkner 2-12, Hampton 4-(-3), Phayzun Fobbs.

PASSING -- Central, Chisom 3-5-0-40; Sikeston, Hampton6-17-0-41.

RECEIVING -- Central, Young 3-40; Sikeston, Josh Riston 1-(-2), Deterio Newman 1-5, E. Fobbs 1-(-2), P. Fobbs 1-12, Jallen Mallory 1-9, Faulkner 1-19