|
|
|
Sussex Central football has had little trouble with little brother Indian River in recent seasons, and few fans who watched the Golden Knights host the Indians Friday night thought the latest rivalry bout would be any different.
IR, however, had no intention of laying down for Central in what could be head coach Jim Bunting’s last game at the helm with the Indians. Not with that and a possible Division II playoff at large berth on the line, plus the pride factor as well.
In the end, Central, however, proved to be too much, as they shook off a fast IR touchdown and rallied for a 21-6 victory.
“Coming in, we knew there was a chance this was coach Bunting’s last game and figured they would be fired up because of that. Plus, they had nothing to lose here, so we expected them to come out fired up,” said Central head coach John Wells, who played under Bunting in middle school. “IR’s a good football team, and we knew we would be in for a battle.”
The Indians’ touchdown came on their first drive and was set up by sophomore Marquel Knight’s 57-yard kickoff return. Setting up shop on the Central 35-yard line, IR needed six plays to reach pay dirt, which happened when senior Devon Showell marched in untouched from 4 yards out. The point after attempt, however, was blocked and made the score 6-0.
“Starting off quickly like that kept us confident and, I think, showed us we could play with these guys,” Bunting said of the score. “Our guys played hard against the Henlopen North champion, and afterward it was nice to hear John tell say we are one of the hardest-hitting teams he had faced. We left it all out there and that’s all you can ask.”
IR had a chance to add to its lead when junior defensive back/quarterback Jamie Jarmon picked off an errant pass from friend and fellow quarterback, Central junior Jesse Long, at the Indians’ 30 and took it to the 45, but the Knights defense got the ball back at its own 28 when senior Byron Hodge pounced on a fumble that occurred during a handoff attempt.
From there the Central offense engineered an 11-play drive that junior running back Brandon Lewis capped with a 13-yard trip to the end zone and gave his team the lead for good.
“Our offensive line was opening some pretty big holes and all of us were hitting them,” said Lewis, who approached 200 yards on the ground and surpassed 1,000 on the season. “We knew we could run some against them.”
Sussex Central football has had little trouble with little brother Indian River in recent seasons, and few fans who watched the Golden Knights host the Indians Friday night thought the latest rivalry bout would be any different.
IR, however, had no intention of laying down for Central in what could be head coach Jim Bunting’s last game at the helm with the Indians. Not with that and a possible Division II playoff at large berth on the line, plus the pride factor as well.
In the end, Central, however, proved to be too much, as they shook off a fast IR touchdown and rallied for a 21-6 victory.
“Coming in, we knew there was a chance this was coach Bunting’s last game and figured they would be fired up because of that. Plus, they had nothing to lose here, so we expected them to come out fired up,” said Central head coach John Wells, who played under Bunting in middle school. “IR’s a good football team, and we knew we would be in for a battle.”
The Indians’ touchdown came on their first drive and was set up by sophomore Marquel Knight’s 57-yard kickoff return. Setting up shop on the Central 35-yard line, IR needed six plays to reach pay dirt, which happened when senior Devon Showell marched in untouched from 4 yards out. The point after attempt, however, was blocked and made the score 6-0.
“Starting off quickly like that kept us confident and, I think, showed us we could play with these guys,” Bunting said of the score. “Our guys played hard against the Henlopen North champion, and afterward it was nice to hear John tell say we are one of the hardest-hitting teams he had faced. We left it all out there and that’s all you can ask.”
IR had a chance to add to its lead when junior defensive back/quarterback Jamie Jarmon picked off an errant pass from friend and fellow quarterback, Central junior Jesse Long, at the Indians’ 30 and took it to the 45, but the Knights defense got the ball back at its own 28 when senior Byron Hodge pounced on a fumble that occurred during a handoff attempt.
From there the Central offense engineered an 11-play drive that junior running back Brandon Lewis capped with a 13-yard trip to the end zone and gave his team the lead for good.
“Our offensive line was opening some pretty big holes and all of us were hitting them,” said Lewis, who approached 200 yards on the ground and surpassed 1,000 on the season. “We knew we could run some against them.”
Knights junior DeShawn Sheppard put the game seemingly out of reach after Central got the ball to begin the second half, when he scored on a 6-yard run that ended a 67-yard scoring march. During the drive, Lewis accounted for a 55 of those yards, 42 of which came on a run that only IR’s Knight kept from being a touchdown when he raced the Central junior down.
Senior Kevin Guthrie capped the scoring for Central on a drive that spanned the end of the third quarter and took two minutes off the clock in the fourth with a 1-yard run.
