JACKSON, Miss. – The Centre football team improved to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Southern Athletic Association as they knocked off the Millsaps Majors by a score of 24-20.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- The two teams traded punts for the first four series of the game, with the field position advantage going to the Colonels. Set up with a short field on their third drive of the game, Centre marched down the field and
Clint Sansbury plunged into the end zone from two yards out to put the Colonels on the board first.
- Halfway through the second quarter, the Majors got the ball back in great field position at Centre's 28, but the Colonels clamped down defensively, not allowing a single yard and forcing a turnover on downs.
- After the turnover, Centre used a mix of run and pass to quickly advance into Millsaps territory, with the big gainer coming on a 24-yard run by
Will McDaniel at the two-minute timeout to get the Colonels into the red zone. On third down,
Jack Gohmann found
Ethan Mays over the middle and the Centre tight end stretched the ball past the pylon to make it a 14-0 lead.
- On the ensuing drive, the Centre defense picked up a pair of sacks, first by
Adam Wicktom and then a tandem sack by
Evan Elder and
Nik Dixon that forced a punt and gave Centre the ball in plus territory with less than a minute to go.
- Gohmann quickly went to work as he completed a pass to
Tyler Blythe, and a Millsaps personal foul moved the ball to the 29, allowing
Cam Tegge to kick a 46-yard field goal at the buzzer to put Centre on top 17-0 at the half.
- The Colonels received the ball to start the third quarter and Centre methodically drove down the field again. McDaniel broke free for 15 yards to start the drive. Gohmann found
Scotty Brown for 14 yards and then hit
Blake Busson for 29 more. After getting into the red zone, Gohmann connected with
Carter Chandler in the corner of the end zone and the Colonels led 24-0.
- Millsaps got their first bit of momentum in the game as the Majors picked off a pass on a deflection and raced to the Centre 20. The Majors took it in on their next play to get on the board for the first time and cut the deficit to 24-7.
- The Majors got the ball back as the fourth quarter got under way and punched it in from a yard out on fourth and goal to get closer, but the extra point try failed and Centre now led 24-13.
- The Colonels got pinned deep after a penalty on the kickoff and gave Millsaps another short field after a punt. On 4th and 13 and out of field goal range, the Majors connected on a bomb and the 34-yard touchdown catch made it a one-score game at 24-20 with ten minutes remaining.
- Gohmann hit three quick passes to gain 42 yards on the next Centre drive, but the Colonels were stuffed on fourth down and turned the ball over to the Majors with just over seven minutes left.
- With momentum fully on their side, the Majors picked up a first down and looked to advance into Centre territory, but
Charlie Adams snuffed out a swing pass for a big loss and Millsaps was again forced to punt.
- Needing to run out the clock, the Colonels did just that as Gohmann connected with
Travis Maufer for one first down and Chandler for another. McDaniel and Sansbury combined to get the final first down on the ground to ice the victory for the Colonels.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Colonels had their most effective day of the season running the ball, picking up 115 net yards on the ground. McDaniel led the way with 92 yards, averaging 54 yards per carry.
- Brown led all players with eight catches for 88 yards.
- Sansbury's first quarter touchdown to open the scoring was the first score of the freshman running back's career.
- The 46-yard field goal by Tegge at the end of the first half represented a career long.
- The Centre defense limited the Majors to just 94 total yards passing. They also held Millsaps to just 3 of 15 on third down attempts.
- The Colonels finished with six sacks on the day while not allowing a sack by the Majors. Elder and
JJ Jones each led the way with 1.5 sacks.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will return home on Oct. 19 as they host the Hendrix Warriors.
