Cavaliers drop to 0-2 with loss to Center

Capital City's Dante McRoberts bowls over Center's Tony'O Flowers while returning a kickoff in the second quarter of Friday night's matchup at Adkins Stadium.
Capital City's Dante McRoberts bowls over Center's Tony'O Flowers while returning a kickoff in the second quarter of Friday night's matchup at Adkins Stadium.

The Capital City Cavaliers learned how narrow the margin between winning and losing can be the hard way on Friday night, losing 35-6 to Kansas City Central at Adkins Stadium.

The still-building Cavaliers have started 0-2 in varsity play in the program's first two seasons.

"It's going to take some time to build this culture and build what we're trying to get to," head coach Joe Collier said. "I see it happening. It's just in glimpses, it's not gonna be wholesale. So I need to be patient and keep the guys encouraged, and make sure they understand that we're on the right path."

Senior running back Ethan Wood, returning from an injury and still not fully healthy according to Collier, was Capital City's workhorse, running the ball 35 times for 99 yards and a rushing score at the end of the game to prevent the shutout.

The Yellowjackets (2-0) threw passes on each of their first five plays of the game, and scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 6:57 left in the opening quarter. On third-and-6, a Cavaliers defensive back was a fingertip away from deflecting a long pass over the middle that went for a 25-yard gain and moved Center across midfield.

On the Yellowjackets' next drive, the second play from scrimmage was a 59-yard completion to tall, speedy receiver Armand Russell that the Cavs again nearly knocked away.

"They took some swings at us and connected," Collier said.

Capital City relied heavily on Wood early in the game, and at first did not have much success running against Center's defensive front. The Cavaliers trailed 13-0 after the first quarter before Russell broke open deep again on a 50-yard touchdown, this time on the first play of the Yellowjackets' drive.

"We're trying to make plays on the ball, and not understanding fully, if I undercut this ball, the bad thing just happened," Collier said.

Both teams punted after that score, then the Cavaliers strung together their best drive of the game to that point. Wood picked up nine yards on first down, running hard, then wide receiver Cameron Harrison hauled in a tough catch over the middle, shaking off a big hit. Robert Gray drew two pass interference flags in three plays to help get Capital City across midfield, then caught a slant pass in the red zone and was tackled inches shy of the goal line with 1:30 left in the half.

But Center put its stamp on the game with a goal-line stand. The Yellowjackets stuffed a run on first down, sacked Cavs' quarterback Hayden Carroll on second down and then came away with an interception returned out to the 36 yard line.

Four plays later, Center had scored and added the 2-point conversion to go up 28-0.

Capital City made some adjustments on both sides of the ball in the second half, limiting the Yellowjackets to three possessions in the final 24 minutes. The final drive of the game was nearly all Wood's: his churning legs and lowered shoulders moved the ball from the Cavs' 39 to inside Center's 30 as the clock wound down. He caught a quick breather, then punched the ball in from the 4-yard line, shrugging off another tackle for good measure to get Capital City on the board with :16 to play.

The game was delayed for about 10 minutes in the fourth quarter after Capital City senior defensive back Damon Upchurch went down behind a play. Upchurch received medical attention on the field and was lifted onto a stretcher with his helmet still on.

"As soon as we're done here I'm going to go check on him," Collier said. "He's a great kid. I'm just hope for the best, and I'm going to be praying for him.