Schools

Parkway Central Powers Past Rockwood Summit For Convincing Football Win

Quarterback Cole Gorman ran for a touchdown and threw for another in 28-9 Colts win over Falcons.

CHESTERFIELD – Maybe somebody forgot to tell the combatants in Thursday night’s Rockwood Summit at Parkway Central Suburban South Conference showdown, that the matchup was supposed to be an offensive show between two of the area’s highest-scoring teams.

Or maybe the two defenses just decided they weren’t going to let it happen, which they did in impressive fashion, holding both offenses to well below their scoring and yardage averages.

In the end though, the hometeam Colts managed to get just enough done, while sprinkling in a couple of big plays, that led them to 28-9 win over the visiting Falcons.

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“I felt like we missed some opportunities,” Central coach Mark Goldenberg said. “And I’m sure they felt like they missed some opportunities too. But I thought our defense played well.”

Indeed they did, which was a big improvement for the Colts from last week, when they gave up more than 400 yards of total offense and six touchdowns in a 40-21 loss to Kirkwood.

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On Thursday, Central held Summit to under 200 yards (113 passing, 65 rushing) and only allowed a field goal and a last-minute touchdown, in a truly dominating defensive effort by the No. 6-ranked team in Missouri Class 5.

“I thought we could’ve gotten more done on offense against them,” Summit coach Mike Bellers said. “We moved the ball against them. But then we kind of shot ourselves in the foot, with a couple of penalties or a bad snap, some other stuff. We wasted some chances.”

Especially on the game’s opening drive, when Summit took the ball at its own 21-yard line and drove all the way to Central’s 15, before an interception by senior Eriq Moore ended the Falcons charge at the 5-yard line.

The Central offense also had its troubles in the first half.

The Colts drove into the ball inside the Summit 20 three times in the first 24 minutes, but only came away with only seven points, after having a field goal block and getting stopped on downs.

Quarterback Cole Gorman did get Central on the board though, with a 1-yard quarterback sneak, that made the score 7-0 midway through the second quarter.

The score stayed that way through halftime, but changed on the first play of the third quarter, as Central star Brandon Sheperd finally made his presence felt with a scintillating 99-yard kickoff return that gave the Colts a 14-0 lead.

“It was just great blocking by my teammates,” Sheperd said. “I hit the seam hard, and just followed my teammates, and they led me to the promised land.”

The Colts added to their lead a short time later, when Alan Gasanli weaved his way up the right sideline for a 14-yard score that gave Central a 21-0 advantage, which proved to be more than enough to put the game away.

“That was really on the defense and special teams right there,” Goldenberg said. “We got the big play from Brandon on the kickoff, then we got some great coverage on the kickoff and backed them up. Then the defense stepped up and held them, and we got the ball back and scored again. But that was all because of our defense and special teams.

Along with the electrifying Sheperd, Central’s Gorman proved himself one of the stars of the game, passing for 146 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for another one, to lead an offense to sputtered at times throughout the night.

Summit’s Ben Tesson kicked a 32-yard field to get the Falcons on the board, and senior Joe Schenk caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from his quarterback Tyler Karst.

But those scores proved too little, too late, as Gorman hit teammate Andre Booker for a 39-yard touchdown that put the game away.

“I think three guys went with Brandon, and that left Booker wide open across the middle,” Goldenberg said.

With the victory, Central is now 6-1 on the season, and its eyes firmly affixed on the district playoffs, which begin around the state next week.

DISTRICT PREVIEW

The Colts are in a district with Chaminade, Parkway North, and Webster Groves, a group with a combined record of 12-5, including No. 2-ranked Webster, which is 5-0 heading into its Friday night ballgame at Seckman.

Central will play all three of its district mates in a round-robin, mini-tournament, in which at the conclusion, the teams with the two best district records will advance to the state playoffs.

Summit is in a less-formidable district with Seckman, Poplar Bluff (MO), and Jackson (MO).

The Falcons will go into district play considered the favorite, but will have to play well in all three ballgames to get through.

“This game’s over, I won’t harp on it too much,” Bellers said. “We’re just going to focus on getting ready for next week. We feel like we can win our district.”

It all gets started next week, with a game at Seckman for Summit, and a game at archrival Parkway North for the Colts.

Scoring Summary

 

Score by Quarters

F

Summit

0

0

3

6

 

 

 

 

 

9

Parkway Central

0

7

14

7

 

 

 

 

 

28

 

Second Quarter

PC: Cole Gorman 1 yd run (Zack Lazenby kick), 7:36

Third Quarter

PC: Brandon Sheperd 99 yd kickoff return (Zack Lazenby kick), 11:41

PC: Alan Gasanli 14 yd run (Zack Lazenby kick), 8:49

Summ: Ben Tesson 32 yd FG 3:44

Fourth Quarter

PC: Andre Booker 30 yd pass from Cole Gorman (Zack Lazenby kick), 7:11

Summ: Joe Schenk 5 yd pass from Tyler Karst (pass failed), 3:43


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