H.S. Football Playoffs Week 2: Central vs. Arlington Martin

Well, all good things must come to an end, as they say, and for the Central High School Bobcats, the 2011 football season came to a close Friday night at the hands of the Warriors of Arlington Martin. Right at the beginning, Central knew they had their hands full with the blitzing attack of the Martin defense and the running game of Martin's Kyle Hicks. Central quarterback Logan Sawyer was sacked nine times as the Warriors rolled to a 43-12 win advancing to the next round. It just seemed that Central was outmatched in every possible way. Not that there weren't moments of brilliance, because there were, but there were few. Take for instance the passing touchdowns to Rileigh Davis, No. 4 in the photos above. I managed to catch this kid on both ends of the emotional meter. On the high side after catching two touchdown passes at the end of the second quarter to get the Bobcats out of their slump and on the board, finally, and in the game. And then I caught him on the down side, trying his hardest to conceal the tears flowing as the seconds ticked off the game clock ending his high school football career.
But, the Central season this year was a fun ride for a change. We've had to cover losing seasons so much lately it was easy to root for these guys and the coaches. With the loss of 31 seniors, including the entire offensive line, I hope they will be able to put together another winning season next year. It sure was fun. We have a few area teams that are still in the playoffs, but I'm taking the Thanksgiving week off to see friends and family. Hopefully there will still be a few teams left in the fourth round. I put up a gallery of images from the game HERE if interested.