Who said that defense can't win football games?
Such was the case at Central Friday night when the host Purple Pounders recorded a 7-0 shutout over the Marion County Warriors.
The only touchdown of the game came with 5:12 left in the first quarter when Marion's Bryce Massengale hooked up with Blake Brooks on a little screen pass to the left side. Intended to be a hook-and-ladder, Brooks turned and pitched the ball, but nobody was around except Central's Sharone Tatum.
Tatum alertly scooped up the loose ball and zipped 47 yards for the touchdown. Tareq Faleh booted the extra point and that was all Central needed.
The Central defense was simply outstanding all game long.
Marion County senior Blake Zeman, who entered the game averaging over nine yards per carry and more than 160 yards per game in the Warriors' three season-opening wins, finished with just 78 yards on 21 carries with a long run of nine yards.
That young man is a fine football player, but chances are good that his legs will be sore after Central's defenders hit him and hit him and hit him, seemingly harder on every play.
Central's offense is still trying to find its own identity as the Purple Pounders haven't scored an offensive TD in the last two weeks, but things are going well as the guys in purple are now 3-1.
"We just played hard, but that was a phenomenal effort by our defense," said Courtney Braswell, Central's defensive coordinator after the game ended.
"We rose to the challenge, but that's just a testament of how far we've come this year. We played physical football for four quarters tonight. Last year, there's no way we would have won that game," he added.
Central head coach Ryan Mallory knows that his offense is getting better, but he couldn't be any more proud of his defense.
"We fought to the end tonight. That was a huge step forward for this team as we just played great team defense. We didn't have a lot of individual tackles, but we had a bunch of kids swarming to the ball on every play," he nodded with a smile.
Marion County's defense was pretty outstanding as well as they limited Central to just 104 yards total offense, including 62 yards on the ground and 42 through the air. The Purple Pounders only had four first downs, including two in each half.
The Warriors had better numbers, but offensive numbers mean nothing if they don't result in touchdowns.
Marion County finished with 175 total yards, including 148 on the ground and 27 through the air.
While Zeman was the workhorse with his 78 yards, Massengale followed with 47 yards on 11 carries.
Trey Phillips and Brooks both had two receptions for the Warriors for 15 and nine yards, respectively.
Isyah Funk was the leader for Central with 48 yards on a dozen carries. Tre Tiller was the leading receiver for the Pounders with 36 yards on two catches.
Central, now 3-1, will be at home again next Friday against District 6-AA foe Red Bank while Marion County, also 3-1, will be at home to host Lookout Valley.
MARION COUNTY 0 0 0 0 -- 0
CENTRAL 7 0 0 0 -- 7
Cen -- Sharone Tatum 47 fumble return (Tareq Faleh kick), 5:12 left in first.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)