Cape Central too much for NMCC

NMCC's Jamareia Jones runs for yardage while being chased by a Cape Central defender on Friday night at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau. Cape Central won the game 41-6.
(Photo by Chris Pobst, Staff)

sd_sports@yahoo.com

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Big play after big play, a rejuvenated Cape Central Tigers football team imposed their will over the visiting New Madrid County Central Eagles on Friday night.

And like in most cases, it all started up front.

"Line play is a factor in every single ball game," NMCC head coach Arlen Pixley said. "We're not there right now. We've got guys who haven't even played football ever before in their life up front right now and we've got a lot to get straightened out.

"It was just bad all around for us. We couldn't block anybody, didn't tackle very well and we had a lot of people hit in the backfield."

The Tigers dominated the line of scrimmage as they torched NMCC 41-6 at Houck Stadium to open their 2010 season with their first win in their last 14 games.

"That hurt us real bad," NMCC senior G'Darius Stevenson said about the line play. "That's the part we have to really step up on."

The Eagles allowed 396 total yards on defense giving little opposition to the surging Tiger offense.

Cape Central's rushing attack was spearheaded by James Poindexter who gained 151 yards on six carries. Cape Central quarterback Christian Cavaness threw three touchdowns and gained 118 yards through the air on just four completions.

"It starts with the offensive line," Cape Central head coach Rich Payne said. "I think that's a good group of offensive linemen and I think we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball."

Cape Central was able to push the Eagles' young front line around throughout the night as Poindexter broke two runs of 30 yards or more. Cape Central senior Austin Davis added another huge gain in the third quarter which was a 49 yard touchdown run and a 46-yard pass from Tiger quarterback Christian Cavaness to Deonte Jenkins in the second quarter gave Cape Central a commanding 27-6 lead heading into halftime.

"They came out with a good head on their shoulders," Stevenson said. "They came out ready to play. They executed pretty good and they were mentally prepared. They should be a good team this season."

Defensively, the Tigers linemen kept NMCC at bay; exclusively Stevenson.

Stevenson was, however, able to break through for the Eagles' first and only touchdown in the second quarter brushing aside a gang of Cape Central tacklers in the process. Stevenson's 97-yard touchdown scamper accounted for the majority of his 117 yards on the ground as he too was hampered by Cape Central's first season-opening win since 2003.

"On the defensive line we did a nice job of controlling the ball on the line of scrimmage so that he didn't have an opportunity to get loose," Payne said about Stevenson. "Because when he gets loose, he's a dangerous, dangerous young man."

NMCC (0-1) totaled just 176 yards and was forced to punt four times in the first half after the Cape Central defense a three-and-out each time. The Eagles managed only three first downs the entire game.

"We're just a shadow of what we were at the end of last year but, we'll get there," said Pixley. "I saw a lot of positives things. We had some young guys playing hard with sophomores making plays and even a couple of freshman making plays.

"That's what we hope to get out of it. I told my staff that we needed to find two good quarters that we played and I think we put those together. We're just not there offensively yet. We will get there."

First Quarter

C -- Christian Cavaness 2 run (Andrew Hileman kick), 6:01

C -- Keilon Moore 10 pass from Cavaness (Hileman kick), 2:25

Second Quarter

N -- G'Darius Stevenson 97 run (kick blocked), 9:31

C -- Rodney Reynolds 3 run (kick failed), 8:07

C -- Deonte Jenkins 46 pass from Cavaness (Hileman kick), 4:39

Third Quarter

C -- Austin Davis 49 run (Hileman kick), 9:01

C -- Trey Gardner 16 pass from Cavaness (Hileman kick), 3:36

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

NMCC -- G'Darius Stevenson 14-117, Lorenzo Hill 3-5, Lemonte Nelson 1-9, Arlandre Newson 3-(-7), Jamareia Jones 6-31, Jayshawn McDaniel 1-9, Damoddre Wilson 1-6, Damien Glispie 1-0. Cape Central -- Keilon Moore 7-37, Deonte Jenkins 8-15, Rodney Reynolds 3-4, Christian Cavaness 1-2, James Poindexter 6-151, Austin Davis 2-50, Garan Evans 1-(-1), Michael Reeder 1-9, Alex Davis-Carter 2-7, Eric Evans 1-4.

Passing

NMCC -- G'Darius Stevenson 1-6-0 3, Arlandre Newson 1-1-0 3. Cape Central -- Christian Cavaness 4-7-0 118.

Receiving

NMCC -- Jayshawn McDaniel 1-3, Courtland Shannon 1-3. Cape Central -- Deonte Jenkins 2-92, Keilon Moore 1-10, Trey Gardner 1-16.