Last Friday night at Alumni Field was cold and wet. This Friday night will be just down right cold. With temperatures expected to be in the mid-30s at kickoff, it will be a brutally cold night by the end of the game.
But the Charleston Tigers, winners in dominant fashion over Gurdon in the first round, will be focused solely on a team that defeated them a year ago after receiving a first round bye in the playoffs. Yes, the Centerpoint Knights from conference 3A-4 return to Charleston on Friday for another second round game. The Knights soundly defeated Lavaca in their first round game and will be a tough out for Charleston to advance to next week’s quarterfinals game on the day after Thanksgiving.
Revisiting last week’s game for the final time, it is sufficient to say that the Tigers were dominant in every phase of the game. In fact, the Charleston special teams even blocked a Gurdon extra-point attempt. Both lines of scrimmage for the Tigers took over the game early, and the talented skill position Tigers were unstoppable.
For the 2022 season, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for a Centerpoint team that played through the 2021 state quarterfinals which included a victory at Charleston. The Knights graduated big numbers and a lot of talent, but the 2022 edition has featured a mix of young players along with a senior, All-State running back who broke the Centerpoint single season rushing record this year.
Centerpoint finished the regular season 9-1 with their only loss of the season being to eventual conference champion Glen Rose in week nine by the score of 42-15. The Knights defeated Lavaca in last week’s first round by the score of 48-22.
The Knight’s offense is led by senior and rushing record holder Jace Clark. Clark is predominantly a “north / south” runner who is deceptively quick but is very productive in gaining yardage. Centerpoint likes to set up the pass with the run, and it will be seen on Friday night if they can run the ball effectively against the vaunted Charleston defense to avoid long passing situations on third downs. Charleston will be looking to contain Clark and force Centerpoint to beat them with the pass.
Charleston head football coach, Ricky May, described the Knights by saying, ‘They are having a great season, have played everyone tough and have a really good football team. They are well-coached and have a lot of discipline. They are very physical up front and they have a stud for a running back. Their defense plays extremely hard and tackles well. Our kids will have to bee ready to play.”
For the Tigers, Charleston utilized multiple weapons on offense, starting with All-State quarterback Brandon Scott, and senior running back Brevyn Ketter. Ketter was a multiple threat both from the back field with explosive rushing plays as well as in the passing game with over 30 yards in receptions last week.
The results of Centerpoint’s 2021 schedule were:
vs Hackett 34-32 (W)
at Mena 15-13 (W)
vs Bigelow 12-8 (W)
vs Two Rivers 50-0 (W)
at Danville 2-0 (W; forfeit)
vs Magnet Cove 28-10 (W)
at Jessieville 40-8 (W)
vs Paris 42-7 (W)
at Glen Rose 42-15 (L)
vs Bismarck 22-19 (W)
Playoffs
vs Lavaca 48-22 (W)
The winner of Friday night’s game will advance to the 3A state quarterfinals. If Charleston defeats Centerpoint, they will host a quarterfinal game at Alumni Field on the day after Thanksgiving Day.
So, bundle up and get ready for cold weather and hot playoff football action! RNN Sports and yours truly will see you there to bring you all of the action in photos and on Saturday with a special recap of Friday’s game. You can read all about the game on Saturday at RNN’s online website at residentnewsnetwork.com
See you Friday night! I will be the one on the sideline wearing everything I own to stay warm!
