By Dan Harney
HAGERSTOWN—The monkey is finally off Centerville Head Coach Kyle Padgett’s back. It was replaced Friday night by a huge post-game grin. In any sport you care to name there is no bigger Tri-Eastern Conference rivalry than when Centerville and Hagerstown square off against each other. Friday night was no exception, but this time the Centerville Bulldogs came to Mark Childs field on mission. Hagerstown has found a way to defeat the Bulldogs in each of the last four seasons. Bulldog Head Coach Kyle Padgett, entering his fifth year at the helm, brought his young Bulldogs to town primed to end the streak. The Bulldogs, who flexed their muscles, by steamrolling over Cambridge City 42-6, with a running clock, last Friday, moved to 2-0 in the TEC and in the process stamped themselves a legitimate TEC title contender.
The Bulldogs won the pre-game coin toss and deferred to the Tigers. The Tigers opened the game on the 20-yard line. They put together a 12-play drive, their longest of the game, including a fake punt on a fourth and three from the 38, before finally stalling out at the 47 and punting to the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs did not fare any better, punting it back to the Tigers. The teams traded possessions again before Braden Himelick gathered in a deep punt and ran it all the way back to the 34-yard line for the Tigers. On the next play from scrimmage Austin Snyder intercepted a Noah Snodgrass pass attempt and the teams went to the end of the first quarter deadlocked in a scoreless tie.
The Bulldogs finally found pay dirt on the opening drive of the second quarter. Effectively mixing passing and running plays the Bulldogs covered 61 yards in 10 plays, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run from Jamari Pamplin at 9:29. Baylee Fry came on for the PAT and her kick sailed through the uprights giving the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead. Most of the remainder of the first half was played in the middle of the field. The Bulldogs did threaten late in the period when Ryan Dickenson threw a pass to Mason Peed who caught it, and then fumbled it, at the one-yard line. Himelick scooped it up and ran it back to the 15-yard line and the Bulldogs went to halftime clinging to a 7-0 lead.
The opening drive of the second half for Centerville stalled out after eight plays before rugby style punter Keegen Schlotterback buried the Tigers on the 6-yard line. Three plays later Javontae Pamplin intercepted a Snodgrass pass at the 32-yard line. Dickenson ran 22-yards on a quarterback keeper and Jamari Pamplin, Javontae’s twin brother, ran the final nine yards. Fry again added the PAT to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead with 5:54 remaining in the third quarter. Both teams struggled to move the ball for the balance of the period with the Bulldogs taking their 14-0 lead into the fourth period. The Bulldogs kept the ball for eleven plays to open the final period, chewing up nearly five minutes, before punting it away. The lethal foot of Schlotterback again buried the Tigers deep, this time on the one-yard line. On the next play the Centerville defense poured into the end zone to score a safety, with Brett Ballenger delivering the key hit, that extended the Bulldog lead to 16-0 at the 6:50 mark. The Bulldogs got the ball back on a free kick but could not move it, so they punted it back to Hagerstown. Logan Alexander gathered in the punt and ran it into the end zone, but a blocking penalty brought it back and erased the score. The teams traded possessions for the final minutes with neither team scoring.
Bulldog Head Coach Kyle Padgett said that finally defeating the Tigers was a good feeling. “It felt good’ Padgett said. “I was really impressed with how our defense played. The way we played on defense gave us more confidence and it carried over to our offense. I told my kids at halftime not to let up, I told them when you have a team like Hagerstown on the ropes you can’t let them up, you must go for the kill, and the kids responded. We are young, but we are confident, and we play really fast and that is what I like.”
Hagerstown Head Coach Scott Snodgrass said the game came down to fundamentals. “It came down to the little details again.” Snodgrass observed. “We have to get better at everything. Little things that we have not held ourselves accountable on and it shows. Penalties, bad snaps and hanging on to the ball too long. We have a lot to fix but we have time to fix them. Credit to Centerville they played well. The effort is there, we will keep working.”
Centerville 16, Hagerstown 0
CENTERVILLE (2-0, 2-0 TEC) 0 7 7 2 16
HAGERSTOWN (0-2, 0-2 TEC) 0 0 0 0 0
9:29 Second Quarter–Centerville – Jamari Pamplin 4-yard run (Kick Fry)
5:54 Third Quarter–Centerville – Jamari Pamplin 9-yard run (Kick Fry)
6:50 Fourth Quarter–Centerville – Defense Safety (Ballenger)
C H
First Downs 16 7
Rushes/Yards` 36-188` 32-39
Yards Passing 71 61
Passes 7-14-1 7-15-2
Punts 5 7
Fumbles Lost 1 0
Penalties/Yards 3-25 5-50
Individual Leaders
Centerville: Jamari Pamplin 18-78, Dickenson 12-82, Runyon 6-28, Hagerstown: C. Romack 7-24, Houck 4-12, Rhoades 4-10
Passing
Centerville: Dickenson 7-14-1, 71, Hagerstown: Snodgrass 7-15-2, 61.
Receiving
Centerville: Peed 2-29, Jellison 2-14, Javontae Pamplin 2-26, Hagerstown: C. Romack 2-24, Rhoades 1-21, Himelick 3-15