It was like watching the end of a Hollywood sports flick. Brother Martin attempts a field goal from the Central 18 yard line with less than 5 seconds remaining to win the game 10-7. CENTRAL BLOCKS THE KICK!!!!! CENTRAL PICKS UP THE BALL AND RUNS 82 YARDS FOR THE WINNING TOUCHDOWN!!!! Truly a storybook ending. And maybe it is appropriate to start seeing Central in the familiar storybook role of Cinderella.

Eight teams remain in the 5A state playoffs and three games from now two of these eight will meet in the Superdome to play for State. Seven of the eight remaining teams started the playoffs ranked 11th or better and five of the remaining 8 were ranked in the top 6. Central was ranked at #14. Knocking off number 3 Brother Martin is indeed a Cinderella story, especially since the game-winning touchdown occurred with no time remaining. Now for a reality check: for Central the dance gets no easier next Friday when #6 Acadiana travels to Wildcat Stadium to take on Central.

The Wildcat Nation travelled well tonight. It looked like there were more fans from Central than there were from the home team Brother Martin. It seemed there must have been well over a thousand Wildcat fans going crazy as the winning touchdown was scored. With a home game next week, plan on packing Wildcat Stadium with a record crowd.

Defense and Special Teams indeed carried the night for Central.  Sean Brown, Stacy Osezemwinde and Zack Pourciau combined for 22 tackles, 22 assists, 1.5 sacks and 3 tackles for a loss.  Josh Johns racked up an interception and two blocked field goals, including the key block on the final play, which Josh Veals returned for the winning TD.  Antonio Dunn scored on a “Hook and Ladder” trick play with Thibodeaux adding the PAT.  The cold weather seems to have caused the Wildcats hands problems and all but shut down the offense, leading to several dropped passes, interceptions and fumbles.  However, it is a team game and the special teams and defence stepped up and did the job.

The Stats can be found at the following links:  GAME    SEASON

Stats and possibly Video will be added to this article later tonight or tomorrow.

Here are picture sequences of three key plays: a blocked field goal, an interception, and the game-winning blocked fieldgoal and resulting touchdown.

 And here are a few other pictures giving you a feel for the evening:

 Here is the article posted tonight on Nola.com:

Baton Rouge Central stuns Brother Martin
Pierce W. Huff, November 21, 2008 10:58 p.m.

The Brother Martin fans, players and coaches stood motionless in the cold at Joe Yenni Stadium moments after Baton Rouge Central defeated the Crusaders 13-7 in a Class 5A regional playoff game. This wasn’t the way the Brother Martin faithful expected their season to end.

Before the last play in the game, overtime seemed as certain as frostbite on Friday. Then, Brother Martin lined up for Michael Harrision to kick a 35-yard field goal on the last play of regulation.

It had not been a good game for the Crusaders special teams. Brother Martin had a punt blocked in the first half. Harrison was short on a field goal and had another kick blocked. Then, bad luck struck again. Central senior Josh Johns blocked Harrison’s kick. Junior Josh Veals picked up the loose ball and raced 70 yards for a touchdown with the last 10 yards coming with half of the Wildcats team sprinting behind him.

When Veals reached the end zone the Central sidelines erupted and Brother Martin’s collective hearts were broken. “I was praying that we could block a field goal again,” Veals said. “All I was thinking was don’t get caught from behind..”

When it was over Central Coach Sid Edwards was awestruck. The Wildcats (10-1) will play the Rummel-Acadiana winner in the Class 5A regionals. “I’m speechless,” Edwards said.

Brother Martin Coach Jay Pittman said he didn’t have any second thoughts about calling for the kick. “I was trying to win the game,” Pittman said. Pittman said he was thinking about trying to pull Central offsides before the kick, and that’s the only thing he regrets not doing. Pittman said he did not want the game to go to overtime.

Edwards said he was proud of the way Central players fought during the game. Central led 7-0 when it scored a 75-yard touchdown on a hook-and-ladder play in the second quarter. Facing third and 27 at its 25-yard line, Wildcats quarterback Will Briscoe threw a 10-yard pass to receiver Shedrick Davis, who pitched a lateral to running back Antonio Dunn, who ran 65 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown with 9:58 remaining in the first half.

Central had a chance to add to its lead when defensive end Sean Brown recovered a fumble at the Brother Martin 26-yard line with 9:38 left. But the Brother Martin defense held Central to two yards on the next four plays.

Brother Martin (9-1) then drove 75 yards on nine plays for a touchdown to tie the score at 7 with 3:58 remaining. Crusaders quarterback Garrett Bean threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kevin Bohte, who was wide open by 25 yards after sneaking behind the Baton Rouge Central secondary.

Brother Martin had a chance to score on the last play of the first half when it drove 39 yards on six plays to the Central 19-yard line. But Crusaders kicker Michael Harrison missed short on a 36-yard field goal at the first half buzzer.

Brother Martin had a chance to take the lead when it drove 55 yards to the Central 12-yard line in the fourth quarter. But Johns blocked a 30-yard field goal by Harrison with 9:31 remaining in the game.

“I thought our defense was spectacular,” Edwards said.

Pierce W. Huff can be reached at phuff@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3809.

The Wildcats compete in the second week of the State Playoffs tomorrow night in against Brother Martin in Metairie. Game time is 7:00 and the location is Yenni Stadium at 400 Phlox Ave. in Metairie. Pass the airport on I-10, get off at Clearview headed south, go just over a mile and cross W. Metarie Ave, take the next right on Prince street and you will dead end into Phlox at the stadium. Not sure how traffic flow will work and looks like parking is going to be interesting so come early. Tickets are $7 in advance at CHS until noon Friday, then $8 at the stadium.

Make the road trip and support CHS football. A win Friday gives Central a game vs the Acadiana/Rummel winner, possibly at home in Wildcat Stadium.

The volleyball team fell 4-1 to St. Thomas More at the volleyball state tournament. The Wildcats conclude their season with their first trip to the state tournament in 10 years.  Congrats Lady Wilcats on a great season!

The CHS Football team looked to be in top form tonight for the playoffs, and handed West Jefferson a 44-12 defeat in round one. Wes Briscoe (twice), Jay Cutno, Antonio Dunn, Josh Veals, and Will Briscoe all scored TD’s tonight, and Mathew Thibodeaux was a perfect 6 for 6 on PAT’s. The defense, in addition to the 48 yard interception returned for a touchdown by Veals, forced a safety to add the final two points of the night.

The statistics, which can be seen at the following links: GAME STATS    SEASON STATS , tell the story. It was a team effort. While there were truly great plays and spectacular efforts throughout the game, no single player really stands out. That is probably why the Wildcats won with such ease tonight, they played as a team.

That teamwork has earned them a trip to New Orleans next Friday night, November 21st, to face Brother Martin, the number three ranked team in the state. Let’s load the cars and buses and fill the visitor’s stands and give Brother Martin an earful of Central Pride.

It’s been over 20 years since Central hosted a playoff game, so come see the Louisiana state high school football playoffs begin at home in Wildcat Stadium tonight at 7:00 PM.  Let’s pack the stadium wearing maroon and white and support our 14th ranked Wildcats.  The opponent is 19th ranked West Jefferson.  A win tonight will probably send Central on the road next Friday so make plans to be there tonight.

The Wildcat Backers would like to invite the community to tailgating at Wildcat Stadium before Friday nights game.  Bring your own food and drinks to share and enjoy the fun.  Also, please note that the backer passes are not good for playoff games. Admission is 8$ at the gate and 7$ in advance( purchase them at school) for friday’s game…….. GOOO WILDCATS!

The 2008-2009 Wildcat Basketball Team is composed of 2 Seniors, 8 Juniors, and 10 Sophomores. The youth of this team does not equate to a lack of experience. The Cats return 5 lettermen from last year’s district runner up(8-2) team. 3 of those lettermen were starters and one was the first player in off the bench . Four of the returning lettermen received district honors in 2008: Josh Veals-All District, Danny Sumner-All District, Will Briscoe-Honorable Mention, and Wes Briscoe-Honorable Mention. The other returning letterman, Daniel Hebert, will compete with several players for playing time this year.

Other players to watch include Senior Louis Covington, Juniors Jae Cutno and Micah Tossas, and sophomores Brock Poydras, Dylan Anders, Austin Watts, and Laquin Turner. Competing with those players for varsity action will be Thomas Woodard, Tyler Watts, Cooper Moore, McKenzie Price, Gregg Morris, Corey Ball, Taylor Durr, and Connor Ryan.

This year’s team will play short handed for a while as 11 of the 20 team members are playing football. When those players come back in December we will begin preparing for an always tough district schedule which includes Woodlawn, Walker, Scotlandville, Denham Springs, and Catholic High. The Cats have finished as the District Runner Up 3 years in a row and are working very hard to take the next step and win the District Title this year. 4 playoff appearances in a row are not enough for this team as they have set their sights on the Top 28 this year.

This will be an exciting team to watch as they will play very hard, have several players who can score, and will create havoc on defense. Shooting will be again be a strength for this team like last season when the Wildcats made 205 3 pointers, a school record 18 in one game. Danny Sumner leads the shooting pack, 83 3-pt field goals made at 44% and 11ppg, followed by Wes Briscoe at 38% 3 pt fg and 86% from the FT line. Another double digit scorer is Josh Veals, 10 ppg, who led the team in assists with 103. Defensive stalwart Will Briscoe returns as the team’s leader in rebounds(105), steals, and charges taken.

The 2008-2009 Wildcat Basketball Team has championship goals set for themselves this year. The entire Central Community will be proud of the toughness and character of this team. We look forward to providing a great show for you so come check the Cats out.

The Central volleyball team clinched a birth to the state tournament with a three game sweep at Bonnabel Monday night. In the first set, the Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 13-7 lead, causing the Bruin coach to use one of her timeouts. The Wildcats then used runs of 3 and 4 points to jump out to a big lead. Whitney East sealed helped with a 6-0 serving run and Central cruised to a 25-15 victory. Game two was back and forth before a string of 4-0 runs put Central in the lead 11-9. From that point on they never looked back and finished the game on a Danielle Croswell 4 point serving run to win 25-19. With all the momentum and energy the Lady Wildcats jumped out to an 8-2 lead before putting Bonnabel away 25-20 to clinch the victory. Central was lead by Taylor Padgett (7 kills, 1 block), Danielle Croswell (8 kills, 7 digs) and Sarah Zito (5 kills, 2 assists, 1 block). The Lady Wildcats will face St. Thomas More of Lafayette Wednesday 11/12 in the Regional round of the state tournament.

The LHSAA has published the pairings for the state championship football playoffs.  Central (ranked #14 in the state) hosts #19 West Jefferson this Friday night in Wildcat Stadium at 7:00 PM.  Plan on coming out and supporting Central.  Should the Wildcats prevail they will play the winner of #3 Brother Martin and #30 Ponchatoula.  Central would travel to Brother Martin or Host Ponchatoula here in Central.  The full bracket can be seen on the official LHSAA website by following this link:  FOOTBALL BRACKET