SPRINGFIELD — The Central football team scored 60 points in the first half against Holyoke on Friday night.
Six touchdowns came on the ground, two through the air and one on a punt return. The Purple Knights were held scoreless through four quarters.
“We didn’t execute any phase of the game; offense, defense or special teams,” Holyoke coach Joe Dutsar said. “We didn’t block and we didn’t tackle. We hung our heads. Very uncharacteristic of any of my teams.”
Led by nine first half touchdowns, the Golden Eagles defeated Holyoke on Friday night, 60-0.
Marcus Crawford opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run on the Golden Eagles’ first offensive play.
It took Central two plays to score on its following drive after forcing Holyoke to go three-and-out. Crawford scored again with a 17-yard run along the sidelines.
After forcing another Holyoke punt, Central capped a five-play, 30-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown rush from Crawford. The junior running back finished the game with four touchdowns.
“The first three drives of the game we gave them the ball inside the 30-yard line. They converted three in a row and that basically took the sails out of the kids,” Dutsar said. “Central is a very good football team, obviously.”
The first two quarters were highlighted by a 72-yard touchdown run by Central’s Isaac Boston. Holyoke’s Aiden Consedine had a 28-yard reception off a pass from Quinn Cauley for the Purple Knights’ biggest offensive play of the game.
With the clock running, Central held the ball for the entire third quarter with run plays. Central possessed the ball twice in the fourth quarter, but kneeled four straight times on both occasions to turn the ball over to Holyoke.
“You’ve got two choices. You can either dig yourself a hole and hide in it, or you’re going to get up,” Dutsar said. “We collectively could have done a better job, and that’s my job to make them see that they could do a better job. Collectively as coaches we have to do a better job. I mean, Jesus, Mary and Joseph – 60points in the first half? You’ve got to be kidding me. Just did not have a good night.”
Central is the reigning Division 3 state champion and played three eastern Massachusetts teams in Everett, Catholic Memorial and Central Catholic to open its season.
The Golden Eagles have been led by head coach and Florence native Valdamar Brower since the fall of 2008. His first few seasons were rocky, but since 2010, Central has not had a season with less than seven wins.
“We have had our core principals: commitment, pride, effort, team, discipline,” Brower said. “Every day starts at zero. Working different hours, lifting different hours and not doing the norm. We live in the city. Nobody is perfect. We aren’t perfect, but handling adversity and making the best of any situation, that is what we try and do. That took time to have a theme around our coaching staff and players. The players look up to our coaching staff, so the adults set the example.”
With players attracting attention from college football programs across the country, the team loses a large amount of talent due to graduation every season. One of the team’s keys to playing at a high level consistently every year is learning from the past.
“The biggest thing is that the kids learn. We learn from our history,” Brower said. “We have had some great athletes come through our program. Every group that comes in hears those stories, knows about those stories and wants to be better academically and have better character … It’s one big family. Even before I was here … We learn from the past and try to get better every day.”
Central 60, Holyoke 0
|
Holyoke |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
—0 |
|
Central |
34 |
26 |
0 |
0 |
—60 |
First quarter
C—Marcus Crawford 20 run (Crawford kick), 10:08
C—Crawford 17 run (Crawford kick), 8:37
C—Crawford 2 run (kick failed), 4:48
C—Andre Ellison 15 pass from William Watson (kick failed), 3:38
C—Crawford 8 run (Mahari Miller kick), 1:41
Second quarter
C—Isaac Boston 72 run (Crawford kick), 10:13
C—Ellison 22 pass from Watson (kick failed), 7:52
C—Tykarryon Daniels 2 run (kick failed), 7:30
C—Boston 67 punt return (Miller kick), 4:10
Third quarter
No scoring.
Fourth quarter
No scoring.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Central–Boston 1-72, Watson 4-55, Crawford 5-67, Daniels 4-51, Miller 1-(-2), Shamail Collins 1-8, Leslie Graham 1-(-3). Holyoke-William Dumoulin 4-4, Cauley 6-(-13), Jael Cabrera 1-(-5).
PASSING—Central–Watson, 5-7-0-115. Holyoke–Cauley 7-14-1-64.
RECEIVING—Central–Boston 1-17, Crawford 1-23, Ellison 2-37, Kevin Key 1-33. Holyoke–Aiden Consedine 1-28, Cabrera 3-20, Prince Diaz 1-6, Lucas Maisonet 2-10.