Zachary battles past Central behind big rushing night by Kameron Thomas

ZACHARY – Third-ranked Zachary ran past Central, 35-28, behind a monster second half performance by Kameron Thomas on Friday Night at Zachary High School.

Thomas rushed for 201 yards on 19 carries, adding three second-half scores including runs of of 33 and 29 yards in the fourth quarter. The last touchdown with just over a minute to play broke a tie and vaulted the Broncos to a hard-earned win.

Central lost all hope when Zachary recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The Wildcats suffered back-to-back heartbreaking losses to state powers including last week’s defeat against the Catholic Bears.

“We’ve just got to learn to finish,” said Central head coach David Simoneaux.

Central scored first on a 10-play drive capped by a five-yard score by Damon Blocker with just 42 seconds to play in the first quarter.

Zachary evened the score at 7-7 on a 87-yard strike from Hudson Spangler to Trey’dez Green.

Nathan Zimmer connected from 31 yards to put the Wildcats back ahead 10-7 but Zachary erased that lead very quickly. Tyson George raced 88 yards to the house on the ensuing kickoff, putting the Btoncos ahead 14-10.

The visiting Wildcats enjoyed a 16-14 halftime lead after Southeastern Louisiana commit Adyn Wilkinson grabbed a nine-yard strike from Junior Jackson Firmin.

“I thought they (Central) came in with a great game plan,” Zachary head coach David Brewerton said. “it was hard for us to get our hands on the ball in the first half.”

Zachary (7-0, 3-0) came out the break hot, marching eight plays and 65 yards in 2:54 to recapture the lead on Thomas’ first of three touchdowns to go ahead agaon, 21-16.

Central (5-3, 1-2) replied with their own long drive, going nine plays over 4:20 before settling for Zimmer’s 26-yard field goal to pull to within 21-19. The Wildcats then jumped back out in front late in the third quarter when Firmin hooked up with Keithon Womack to make it 25-21.

Thomas scored his final two touchdowns while Central only managed another Zimmer field goal, a 33-yarder.

“I thought this was more of a complete 48-minute effort,” said Simoneaux. “We got better tonight, Hats off to Zachary. They found a way to win. It was a great high school football game.”

Central has Woodlawn up next week while Zachary will take on Liberty.