Coach Dave Brown and his Central Methodist Eagles knew coming into Saturday’s game against William Woods’ first-year varsity program was probably their best chance at notching a win this season. By halftime, it appeared that opportunity would slip away, but an outstanding second half gave Central its first taste of victory this season, 29-22.

The win marked the second in two years for coach Brown, now in his second year of rebuilding the program. It was also the first win before a home crowd since November 6, 2021.

“I’m just happy for those guys. They’ve been working a long time to get that,” Brown said after the game. 

Brown said he and his team knew coming in that it would be an evenly-matched game and the best chance Central has had to win since losing by one score to Clarke at home on September 21. But a disastrous first quarter, in which Central only had four offensive plays, not including a punt, nearly doomed their chances early on.

Meanwhile, the Owls scored on their first two possessions to take a quick 14-0 lead.

The second quarter faired little better for Central. The Eagles got as close as the 1-yard line before a penalty sent them back five yards. A failed fourth-down try returned possession to William Woods. Eventually, Central scored on a 33-yard field goal by Oscar Simon to cut the lead to 17-3 with under two minutes to play in the first half.

“It was a weird game how the first half went. A lot of stuff wasn’t going our way,” Brown said. “In the first half, we didn’t play great. We had some glimpses here and there. The energy level wasn’t there.”

Central’s bad luck hadn’t yet run its course. With three seconds left before halftime, Central was forced to punt from its own end zone. Trying to run the clock out before William Woods would have the chance to run an offensive play, the Eagles’ punter tried to burn those three seconds before kicking the ball away. But that time was enough for the Owls’ special teams defense to get to him. William Woods blocked the punt, which went out of bounds in the back of the end zone for a two-point safety.

“It was about as bad as it could have been. Not quite. But almost as bad as it could have,” Brown said. “So we’ll learn from that and go.”

Trailing 19-3 at halftime, Central came out in the third quarter with renewed purpose. After receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, quarterback Gavin Watts connected with Carl Robinson for a 71-yard touchdown less than a minute into the third quarter.

The Eagles’ defense forced the Owls to punt on their first possession of the half, returning the ball to CMU.

Central again made quick work of its next possession. A short rush by Boonville native Dawan Lomax was followed up by a 42-yard pass play from Watts to Je’Von Williams to set up a first down just outside the red zone. On the next play, Lomax broke loose for a 21-yard touchdown run.

Both of Central’s point-after attempts failed, making the score 19-15 in favor of William Woods.

The Owls eventually connected on a 26-yard field goal to widen its lead to seven points with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

With Central’s aerial game in full swing, the Eagles made their way downfield with a run-pass balance they haven’t had all season. Receiver Drake Dudley made an outstanding reception in the far corner of the end zone on a nine-yard pass from Watts to finish off the drive.

At first, the officials called the pass incomplete. After a short conference, they awarded CMU the six points. Moments later, a challenge by Williams Woods was overruled, confirming the touchdown and costing the Owls what would later prove to be a crucial time-out. Simon’s kick was good, tying the game at 22-22 with 10:36 left to play.

That lost time-out would prove costly at the end of the game. William Woods burned its second time-out on the next drive before an incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs.

Central’s defense came up with another big stop on WW’s next drive, holding the Owls to a three-and-out.

Now, with 1:54 on the clock, Central had one more chance to take a lead. A short punt gave the Eagles possession on the William Woods 43-yard line. Back-to-back rushes by Lomax moved the Eagles up by 14 yards before an incomplete pass stopped the clock. Then, with less than a minute to play, Lomax found a seam on the left side of the line and exploded for 31 yards across the goal line for the go-ahead score.

Simons’s kick sailed through the uprights to put Central in front by seven, 29-22.

With the teams separated by just one score, William Woods had enough time to mount a drive. But the Owls had only one time-out with 53 seconds to go.

“I didn’t think that drive would go the way it did. I thought it would take a little more time. That’s why I was running the ball a little bit. But at that point in a tie game, you just want to get up right now,” Brown said.

Up by score with the game on the line, Central’s defense went to work. On their first play, CMU defensive lineman Caleb Justice  sacked Owls’ quarterback Gabe Serri for a loss of 11 yards.

“That was big. When you’re calling a two-minute drive, you’ve got to get that drive started. And for them to start negative really sets the rhythm for the rest of it. That was a great way to start off our defense and helped us finish it off,” Brown said.

Serri completed two passes to bring the Owls to midfield, but another sack by CMU defensive lineman Y’Marius Joshlin was the finishing touch for the Eagles’ defense.

William Woods had used its last time-out before the sack, so the clock kept running. Somehow, Serri was able to spike the ball with one second left to give the Owls one last play. A short pass and run went for 21 yards, but Central’s defense stayed back, allowing the short pass before swarming on the runner in front of the Williams Woods sideline to end the game.

“All week, they’ve been telling each other to do their job. And you can hear the players talking and taking ownership,” Brown said. “I’m proud of the way those guys came out and continued to step up when we needed them.”

Brown said the excitement of the win didn’t hit him until he entered a very raucous locker room.

“I told them that I had faith they could do it, but I would believe it when they got there. And they showed it today,” Brown said. “We can continue to build with that.”

Despite finishing with a time of possession that was almost exactly half of that of William Woods, Central was able to pull off its first win of the season thanks to a seemingly tireless defense. The Eagles held William Woods to just 19 yards rushing on 28 attempts, averaging less than one yard per carry.

But despite the insipid ground game, the Owls’ are built for passing. Serri threw for 327 yards, completing 24 of 46 attempts with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Central’s passing game came alive as well, with Watts completing nine of 18 passes for 196 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. That allowed the Eagles to finish with their best rushing game of the year. Central averaged 5.8 yards per carry, rushing for 232 yards on 40 tries.

“That balanced some things out and allowed us to truly get into a rhythm offensively,” Brown said. “Now we’re calling meaningful plays in the fourth quarter.

“Schematically, there were some things that worked out well for us on both sides of the ball. They do like to sling the ball around a little bit. It was a great matchup personnel wise and schematically. They gave us some things where we were able to expose some formations and run the ball well. And our guys did a nice job of staying patient with it. Our receivers did a great job blocking edges when they were asked to.”

Lomax led the way with two rushing touchdowns, averaging 7.9 yards per run while racking up a game-high 143 yards on 17 carries. 

“He’s what we want. He’s a guy who comes to practice every day and works to get better and tries to rally the guys along,” Brown said. “I wish he had some more success earlier in the year because he’s got the talent. We just have to keep growing with the guys up front and growing with the offense and the players we have. He’s going to be leading the way as we continue to develop.”

After starting Alvaro Ortega-Morales at quarterback, Watts played the majority of the game. Central lost its starting quarterback, Jordan Gile, on October 5. Since then, Ortega-Morales, better known to his teammates as “Ro,” has been the designated starter. But Coach Brown said the plan was to put in Watts early and see what happened.

“Ro had a tough week last week with a lot of turnovers early,” Brown said. “The plan was to start him and then put Gavin in by the third series, regardless, and then see where the flow of the game went. The guys seemed to respond to that. The offense was moving with Gavin in there. So, I just stayed with him. We will let those two guys keep competing. They both bring different skill sets to the table.”

Dudley led CMU in receptions with three grabs for 45 yards and a touchdown. Robinson had one grab, a 71-yard touchdown catch. Watts connected with six different receivers all game, finding Williams, Zyon Slade, and Chase Rankin once each and Christian Brice twice.

Central’s defense had its best day of the season, combining for six quarterback sacks on the day. Caleb Justice had three for a loss of 31 yards to go along with five total tackles. Nathaniel Smith and Y’Marius Joshlin were each credited with 1.5 sacks. Nyjahl Vaughn tallied a game-high 10 tackles (8 solo), followed by Brenden Dye with eight, including two tackles for loss.

Finally, with a home win under their belts, the Eagles face two of the Heart’s best in the final two weeks of the season. Central is back on the road Saturday at No. 11. Benedictine and concludes the season at home against No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene next Saturday, November 16 at Estes Field.

“We’ll be playing two of the top three teams in this league,” said Brown. “Now, hopefully, this will build some momentum for us where our guys truly can believe now. The mindset was the difference today.”

Both games kick off at 1 p.m.