Garrett Carter returns interception for touchdown, defense forces three turnovers.
By: BRAD PRICE
Fourth Quarter Media
SOUTH CENTRE TWP. - Central Columbia (6-3) defeated Lewisburg (5-4) handily, 42-16.
Turnovers were the name of the game for Central. The Blue Jays forced three key turnovers against Lewisburg, including one that was taken all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.
This came in the third quarter on via interception by linebacker Garrett Carter to put the game away for the Blue Jays and give them a 35-16 advantage.
“Defensive line did a great job, Carter Crawford got his hand in there and tipped it up for me and I was just underneath it to take it back to the end zone,” Carter said.
Central head coach Scott Dennis praised the play of Carter all game, and this was based on more than the interception.
“This is the best game that Garrett Carter has had, he flew to the football, he played with confidence,” Dennis said. “He’s only a young sophomore but he’s starting to play like a junior. I don’t know if I’ve seen a kid, especially at his age work as hard as he has. Whether it’s with Vaportrail or in our weight room, he’s always doing something to get better and he’s passionate about it.”
Central’s offensive line again looked impressive, guiding running back Isaac Gensemer to 155 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Fullback Jack Schechterly gave a lot of credit to Gensemer with his hard-nosed running style and the offensive line.
“Isaac is the workhorse of this team, and I personally like to help get him holes as much as I can,” Schechterly said. “ The offensive line just keeps getting better and when we are dominant in the run and the pass the makes us a dual threat and hard to stop.”
Lewisburg had some success on the ground though, as the go-to guy all year Max Moyers rushed for nearly 200 yards in the loss but took some hard hits all game from the Central linebackers.
Despite the 200 yards from Moyers, the Green Dragons couldn’t capitalize in the red zone.
The first quarter saw them lose a fumble on the Blue Jays’ 8-yard line. The troubles continued as quarterback Nick Shedleski threw the interception to Carter and followed that up with another interception by Zach Smith deep in Blue Jay territory.
“It starts with turnovers, we did have one but then we ended up with three and the key is the Moyers kid is good and I told the guys they would have to fight through adversity and I think they did a good job with that,” Dennis said. “This game came down to turnovers, but then again every game does.”
Lewisburg 3 7 6 0 - 16
Central 7 21 0 14 - 42
First quarter
CC- Isaac Gensemer 1 run (Brendan Gregory kick), 4.22
LW- Jack Dieffenderfer 28 field goal, 0:37
Second quarter
CC- Bradley 36 pass from Devlin (Gregory kick), 8:40
CC- Gensemer 31 run (Gregory kick), 3:50
LW- Max Moyers 1 run (Dieffenderfer kick), 1:10
CC- Ky Seesholtz 1 run (Gregory kick), 0:00
Third quarter
LW- Ethan Dominick 30 pass from Nick Shedleski (PAT Blocked), 6:46
Fourth quarter
CC- Garrett Carter 29 interception return (Gregory kick), 11:48
CC- Gensemer 4 run (Gregory kick), 3:42
Lewisburg Central
First Downs: 16 18
Rushing-yds: 38-216 37-209
Comp-Att-Int 10-18-2 7-13-1
Passing- yds: 145 168
Total yds: 361 379
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yds: 9-80 6-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing- Central: Isaac Gensemer 24-155, 3 TDs; Jack Schechterly 8-30; Trae Devlin 3-25; Ky Seesholtz 1-1, TD; Team Rush 1-(-2). Lewisburg: Max Moyers 29-194, TD; Ethan Dominick 5-26; Ethan Spaulding 1-0; Nick Shedleski 3-(-4).
Passing- Central: Devlin 7-12-1 168 yds, TD; Gensemer 0-1-0 0 yds. Lewisburg: Shedleski 10-18-2 145 yds, TD.
Receiving- Central: Zander Bradley 4-97, TD; Jared Verse 1-38; Eli Morrison 1-19; Zach Smith 1-14. Lewisburg: Dominick 6-94, TD; Coleman Witherite 3-44; Romale Brown 1-7.