BOSSIER CITY – The Central Wildcats plan to get very comfortable with bus rides over the next several weeks.
The Wildcats, the No. 18 seed in the Division I Non-Select playoffs, understand that barring any massive upsets, they will spend their entire playoff run on the road.
Central head coach David Simoneaux has challenged his team to embrace a “road warrior” mentality, and they answered the first test in emphatic fashion Friday night with a 55-28 win over No. 15 Airline.
Senior Tristan Rose scored a career-high four touchdowns, including the Wildcats’ first three scores of the game. Max Gassiott (Nicholls State) tossed two TD passes to Brody Diel — a Rice commit and Miami target — and Diel got into the action with a TD pass of his own to fellow senior Marcus Watson Jr. (Houston).
As efficient as the Wildcats’ offense was, however, the story of the game was the play of Central’s fast and physical defense, which held a Viking offense that was averaging more than 40 points per game in check for most of the game, particularly in the second half.
“I love the second-half performance out of those guys,” Simoneaux said. “I felt like we just made some mistakes in the first half in terms of situational awareness. I thought we played hard. I thought we played physical. I liked how we stood up against the run.
“The second half, I thought we came out and played lights-out – just really proud of the way we finished that game defensively.”
“The last few weeks, the defense has been doing their thing,” Gassiott said. “We gave them bad field position in one of the games, and it made ‘em look bad. But I think in every game, they’re playing hard and doing their thing.”
Rose, who missed most of the year battling injuries, also did his thing Friday night. He scored a 7-yard touchdown to cap the Wildcats’ first drive and then added two 2-yard scores as Central opened a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
“It’s really good to see Tristan getting back healthy,” Simoneaux said. “I thought the O-Line was very, very, very physical.”
Rose said he had never scored four TDs in a game before and called Friday night “the best performance of my life.”
“My O-Line was working,” Rose said. “I can always thank them for everything they do. I feel like coming into this game, we felt like they hadn’t seen nobody as physical as us. We just kept being physical, pounding it down their throat.”
Gassiott, who didn’t score a rushing touchdown against the Vikings but used his legs to move the chains and keep drives alive, also praised the Wildcats’ offensive line for their performance Friday night.
“The O-Line killed ‘em up front, which opens up everything, and when Tristan’s back there toting it like that, it’s killer,” Gassiott said.
Airline (7-4) made a strong close to the first half to stay in the game as the Wildcats threatened to blow it open. Senior Chase Deon Williams (Ouachita Baptist) threw a 45-yard TD to sophomore Caleb Munn with just over 2 minutes left in the first half and added a 3-yard scoring run with 39 seconds left before halftime.
Both TDs cut the Wildcats’ lead to 7 as Gassiott connected with Diel for a 61-yard TD that gave Central a 28-14 lead, and senior Nathan Hunter put the Wildcats ahead 31-21 at the half with the first of his two 35-yard field goals as time expired.
Airline coach Justin Scogin said Williams did everything in his power to continue answering the Wildcats’ high-powered offensive attack.
“He did everything he could,” Scogin said. “He ran it for us. He threw it for us. He scrambled. He tried to make plays. He’s been great for the last four years. He never has a bad day. He’s never not here. He plays whether he’s sick or hurt. No matter what, he’s always game to play. Ouachita Baptist is gonna get a phenomenal competitor, a phenomenal kid.”
Hunter’s second field goal put Central ahead 34-21, and Rose pushed the lead to 20 points with his longest TD run of the game, a 21-yarder in which he dragged an Airline defender across the goal line with 1:25 left in the third quarter.
But it was the play of the Wildcats’ defense that allowed them to pull away. Junior defensive lineman Michael Williams forced a fumble in the red zone that was recovered by senior defensive back Marvin Joseph (Houston) to end the Vikings’ first drive of the second half, and senior cornerback Davonte Sanders’ interception and subsequent return set up the dagger to the heart of Airline’s playoff life.
Diel took a pitch from Gassiott on what appeared to be an end-around, but he pulled up before crossing the line of scrimmage and tossed the ball to a wide-open Watson for a 27-yard touchdown that gave Central a commanding 48-21 lead with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
“Tonight just wasn’t our night,” Scogin said, adding that costly turnovers hurt his team’s chances at victory.
“We just didn’t execute, and I think that’s kind of been our deal all year,” Scogin said. “We just haven’t executed at the right time.”
As the Wildcats (6-4) prepare to travel to No. 2 Barbe for a second-round showdown and what they hope is a second straight road playoff win, Scogin said he believes Central has the pieces to put together a run.
“I think (Gassiott) is phenomenal, man,” Scogin said. “He is a grown man. He runs the ball like a fullback. He throws it well. They have some weapons in (Diel) and (Watson). I really like (Diel). … I was really impressed with (him) on film all week. He came out and really impressed tonight.”
With a senior class that played in the Superdome just two years ago – Gassiott while playing for Alexandria Senior High in the Division I Select title game, and the rest of the class while winning the Division I Non-Select championship – the Wildcats have their sights set on a return to New Orleans next month.
“We think we’re a calloused football team that’s played a lot of great opponents,” Simoneaux said. “Certainly, we think that we’re battled-tested, and (we’re) excited for all challengers. It’s always tough to continue to go on the road and do those things, but we’ve taken up the mantra of being a road warrior. I know our guys will be up for the task.”
