October 1, 2012 Page 15SPORTS

Bringing Home the Win for Homecoming

JENNIFER ROONEYEditor-in-Chief

1. Player six kneels mid-game, awaiting to take on the field versus opponent South. 2. Central’s football team’s victory was a rock solid win over South with the closing score 42-7; Central’s lead was apparent from the start. 3. Coach Jay Ball keeps an eye on his players as they run the field. 4. In ready position, Central’s football team crouches down, anxious for the moment that the game can begin.

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Central Eagles do not disappoint when faced with opponents Omaha South. Not only did Central lead the Eagles into Homecoming victory, they crushed the Packers in a painful 42 -7 game.

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“The team that comes out and doesn’t make mistakes and executes, wins the game,” said Darin Williams, Athletics Assis-tant Principal.

Central High’s varsity football team won the football game, 42 - 7, against South High on Sept. 14th.

The theme of the night was white for seniors and freshmen and purple for sophomores and juniors, but the seniors decided to wear togas.

Before the game, the whole team met at 3 p.m., right after school, for some relaxation time. Coach Jay Ball told the coaches to tell players to watch a lot of film and develop game playing.

The coaches went over things with the players for the game, like offensive and defensive tactics, to keep them focused. This is a normal preparation; they do this every Friday before their game.

“When Coach Ball is talking to us, I just visualize what good things I can do in the game like interceptions and scoring,” said senior Devotay Leflore, #48.

They also do a lot of practicing on the field each day. The coaches try to get momentum in their systems. While practicing, they mostly do a lot of fundamentals.

There was also a different quarterback than the previous games. Junior Malik Sams, #15, was the quarterback for the

first two games, but in the third game against Papillion LaVista South, Sams switched to defense and Junior Cameron Dorsey, #11, became the quarterback.

The game started off with South’s kickoff. After just a few minutes into the game, Central scored a touchdown. Senior Mike Leach, #6, picked up a fumble from South and made a recovery. Leflore claimed they call him the “Honey Badger” be-cause the ball always goes to him or he always picks up the ball-- for example, this fumble.

For a while, both teams were just working toward the next touchdown with no luck. That is, until there was just one minute left and we got the ball down the field, receiving six figures on the scoreboard.

At the beginning of the second quarter, senior Tra-Deon Hollins, #4, ran down the field, plunging over everyone and pass-ing through anybody that got in the way.

He did not fumble or fall until he was just a few yards short of a touchdown. “It looked like he was really trying. He tried to make some things happen,” said Williams.

And again with just 30 seconds on the clock of the first half, Leflore acquired a touchdown. “We were on a roll and couldn’t be stopped. They just couldn’t stop us,” he said.

The score at halftime was 35 to 0. At the end of the first half, the football players ran off and the band members and pom squad waited to perform for their portions of the halftime show.

As the second half of the game started, something changed.

The younger players, including the JV team, began to play in the game. A few minutes before the third quarter ended, Central scored another touchdown and was up to 42 points.

When there were a few seconds left in the third quarter, South finally scored. And the game was over. The end score was 42 – 7.

All of the players who scored touchdowns were seniors #4 Tra Hollins, #6 Mike Leach, #22 Jackie Davis, #48 Devontay Leflore and #5 Deandre Hollins-Johnson. There was also one sophomore, #20 Tre Sanders.

Most people wanted to see more improvement though. “I think they’re a better team than they’ve shown. They have made some mistakes that have cost them the game, but I think they’re a better team than they’ve shown.

“They have some good effort. I think they could’ve played a lot better though, they should not be satisfied because they should continue to strive to get better. They still have a lot of areas to work on,” said Williams.

The varsity football team is now two and two going into districts, which start with the Bellevue East game on Sept. 21st.

“It’s a good opportunity to show everybody we can be a good team. It’s going to be our best game,” said Leflore. Everyone is looking forward to this game.

“We won and I was very happy about that,” said Ball. “I think we can play better, but as long as we win, that’s the most important thing.”