Hawks grind one out
| Friday, Nov 20 2009 11:56 PM
Last Updated Monday, Nov 23 2009 04:13 PM
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Michael Fagans / The Californian Centennial's Cody Kessler sprints out of the backfield, eludes four defenders and throws a completion on the run during the first half of the Golden Hawks playoff game against Clovis East at home on a cold Friday night in Bakersfield.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Centennial's Elijah Trail holds up the football he recovered in the end zone for a toucdown to break a scorless tie during the first half of the Golden Hawk's playoff game against Clovis East on Friday night in Bakersfield. Teammates Richie Peckfelder, left, and Tyler Ramirez run out of the end zone with Elijah Trail.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Centennial's Tyler Fries tries to stiff-arm Clovis East defender Jordan Ruiz after making a catch during the first half of their playoff game in Bakersfield on Friday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Centennial's Myron Moore runs past a Clovis East defender while teammate Cole Hallum blocks down field during the first half of their playoff game in Bakersfield on Friday night.
Michael Fagans / The Californian Centennial's Tyler Thorton runs past a Clovis East defender during the first half of their playoff game in Bakersfield on Friday night.
Centennial football coach Bryan Nixon told his Golden Hawks in the locker room Friday before their first-round playoff game with Clovis East the story of a welder, who was told again and again that he would never make anything out of a block.
The welder, of course, overcame the odds. So, too, did the Golden Hawks.
What Nixon presumably failed to mention is anything about a bad ankle.
With star quarterback Cody Kessler hobbled by an aggravated left ankle sprain and Clovis East creeping closer on the scoreboard, No. 8 seed Centennial gutted out a 16-14 home victory to advance into next Friday's Central Section Division I quarterfinals against No. 1 Clovis-Buchanan.
"It was a long speech," said Kessler, who said he rolled the ankle three times during the game but thinks he'll be able to play next week. "Everyone told this welder he couldn't do it. And everyone told us we couldn't make it this far."
Kessler threw for 115 yards and ran for a touchdown in the first half. That, combined with Elijah Trail's recovery of a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown, helped Centennial (7-4) to a 14-0 halftime lead.
But in the second half, Clovis East (4-7) handed off again and again to Sean Johnson-Bey, a workhorse who ran 41 times for 247 yards and two touchdowns and even threw a completion for 45 yards. The Timberwolves twice were within one possession with the ball, but Centennial's defense -- combined with a plethora of Clovis East mistakes -- kept the Golden Hawks ahead.
The Centennial offense was relegated mostly to clock-chewing in the second half. Kessler finished 19-of-27 for 164 yards, and Myren Moore had 94 yards on 26 carries. But neither ever threatened to score in the second half.
Clovis East did. Johnson-Bey scored from 2 yards out in the third quarter to make the score 14-7, and Centennial's offense sputtered to give Clovis East the ball back.
But special teams and defense proved crucial again. Kessler pinned the Timberwolves on their own 5-yard line with a punt, and the Golden Hawks defense held.
"We knew it was who was going to play the best in all three phases in the game," Nixon said. "We were able to take advantage of some of the things they did special teams-wise ... And our defense stepped up and made plays. They won the ballgame."
The ensuing Clovis East punt snap went over punter Josh Long's head for the second time in the game -- the first was blocked and then caught by Trail for the game's first TD. This one was important, too; with three seconds left in the third quarter, it sailed out of the end zone, giving Centennial a safety and the two points that were the game's difference.
"I'll be thinking about that stuff going home and tomorrow," Clovis East coach Ryan Reynolds said. "Right now I'm just worried about our guys, our seniors. ... We were wearing on them a little bit, but this is just the way it goes."
In the fourth quarter, Clovis East coughed away another chance when Johnson-Bey fumbled on the Centennial 14. They did score with 4:25 left to pull within 16-14, but the Golden Hawks ran out all but 1:59 of the clock with the aid of two personal-foul penalties against Clovis East. When the Timberwolves finally got the ball back, they had only enough time to drive to their own 42.
"I got a little nervous the last two times they got the ball back," Kessler said, "but our defense did an awesome job. We put them in some bad situations, but they stepped up."
But this wasn't necessarily a case of a confident team responding to a challenge.
"We knew we could take it to them, but everybody was still a little unsure," Kessler said. "Then before the game, coach Nixon got us all pumped up."
The welder did his job, and now Nixon's team gets to continue to play the underdog at Buchanan (10-0) next week.
"(In) the playoffs you have nothing to lose," Nixon said. "You just go out there and play your best, and if you play really well, you never know what happens. That's the beauty of the playoffs."
