Smaller piece of the pie

Bobcats earn berth, but get set back by loss to Mustangs

SA Times - Clinching the playoffs is supposed to be a joyous occasion. The Bobcats didn't get to enjoy it much. Early Friday night, thanks to a Lubbock High loss to Amarillo Tascosa, the Central High School football team officially clinched its fifth straight playoff berth. There was little celebration, however, as the Bobcats proceeded to lose to Lubbock Coronado 42-14.

"That was a silver lining on a night when there wasn't many for us," Central head coach Steve Heryford said of the postseason berth. "We knew we were going to go to the playoffs, but we wanted to do it ourselves," safety Josh Stewart said. "We didn't want to rely on someone else."

Central (5-4, 2-2) is in a three-way tie for second in the district, but because of who they've beaten (and just as importantly, the margin of those victories) the Bobcats hold all necessary tie-breakers to ensure their playoff spot. With a win Friday, Central would have moved into a first-place tie with Coronado. Instead, the Bobcats were left to see how much work they have ahead of them if they want to hang around long in the postseason, which begins in two weeks.

Coronado rolled up 405 total yards against a Central defense that came into the game allowing the fewest in the district. Most of the damage was done by Coronado quarterback Austin Zouzalik, who ran for a game-high 126 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 189 and one more score. Meanwhile, the Mustangs limited Central to just 29 rushing yards and 175 total.

"That was a thorough beating," Heryford said. "I told our kids that if you compete long enough, you're going to end up on the wrong end of some beatings. That's part of being a competitor, and you have to deal with it like a champion if you expect to finish the season like a champion, and we still do." The win, Coronado's eighth of the season against just one loss, continues the Mustangs' dramatic return to form after missing the playoffs last year. "We tasted that bitter taste of not making the playoffs last year," Zouzalik said. "Everybody this summer came up and worked out and we believed in each other. Everybody just bought into it.

"It's always been (Lubbock) Monterey around here. We wanted to have an identity." Not only do they have an identity, but thanks to Friday's win, they also have at least a share of the district title. They wasted no time getting started Friday. The nine straight completions that Zouzalik tossed to start the game wasn't his most impressive early accomplishment. Zouzalik rushed for three first-quarter touchdowns as the Central defense struggled to contain the dual-threat of the Coronado passing attack and the speedy senior quarterback. His trio of touchdown runs put Coronado up 21-0, and the game looked headed for a blowout. The Bobcats defense tightened, however, and didn't allow any more first-half points.

The Central offense, meanwhile, under the direction of quarterback Tyler Jones (who threw for 142 yards), went on one lengthy first-half drive characterized by big plays. The Bobcats spanned 73 yards on just four plays that included a 28-yard pass from Jones to Shea Herron, a 23-yard run by Jones and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Taylor Patton. That score trimmed the Coronado lead to 21-7, and that's the way things stayed heading into a halftime.

Central grabbed even more momentum on its first drive of the second half. Three long passes by Jones, the first two to Marc Campos, and the third, a 22-yard touchdown to Herron, cut the Coronado lead to just seven. "Momentum is a huge thing in high school football," Heryford said. "We rallied, and we felt like we were right back in the ballgame." It would never get any closer, however. as Coronado scored the final 21 points of the game. "We probably lost one of our goals of being a district champion to someone who deserves it, but we're not done," Heryford said. "We expect to regroup and play some better football in the next few weeks."