A young, inexperienced Central Methodist football team lost its season opener Saturday night under the lights of Davis Field, 26-15, against Texas College.

The Eagles return for their second year under head coach Dave Brown. Last year Central finished just 1-10 as Brown and his coaching staff began rebuilding the program in the wake of tragedy six months prior.

Brown was forced to hit the ground running, trying to hold on to whatever players remained from the embattled one-win season in 2022, while entering the recruiting game late after previous head coach David Callaway waited to resign until February of last year.

Now, with a year under his belt and a few more players under his recruitment, the hopes of the Eagle faithful rest on Brown’s shoulders to build a winning program while also upholding the values of the university and the Fayette community.

Rebuilding a program nearly from scratch does not happen overnight. Brown said that several of his players made their college football debuts on Friday.

“We’re such a young team. We had so many kids playing in their first college game tonight that you knew some of these mistakes were going to come up,” Brown said after the game. “It’s obviously disappointing so many did. But the fact that even through the ebbs and flows of it, our guys kept going. It’s something to build on. And that’s what we talked about. Whether we won the game tonight or lost the game, the thing we’re going talk about is getting better tomorrow. And now our guys know what a college game is. They know what the expectation is, and what the work’s really going to take.”

The Eagles trailed early as the Steers found the endzone on their first drive of the game with a 35-yard touchdown reception. Central’s Isaiah Forbes blocked the extra point attempt to make the score 6-0 in favor of Texas College.

The following scoring play came early in the second, as Texas broke through Central’s secondary for a 57-yard passing touchdown. A two-point conversion pushed the Steers’ lead to 14-0.

CMU struggled on offense, often crossing the 50-year line with the help of a penalty, only to move back into Eagle territory on a subsequent infraction.

But despite a troubling first half, the Eagles showed flashes of potential. With under three minutes to go in the second quarter and with TC threatening to score once again, junior defensive back Joseph Daniels picked off an errant Steers’ throw at the CMU 16-yard line, returning the ball near midfield. The pick quickly lifted the team’s spirits, but the Eagles could not capitalize on the mistake.

Central and TC went scoreless on their final drives of the half, as Texas College held the 14-0 advantage going into the locker room break.

Things didn’t look much better for Central to start the third quarter. The Eagles were intercepted on their opening drive of the third quarter, with the following drive for TC resulting in a 16-yard touchdown reception. With a failed two-point conversion, Texas College now led Central 20-0 at the 11:56 mark of the third.

TC’s final touchdown came on the first drive of the fourth, scoring on a 69-yard touchdown pass.

But CMU’s offense found traction midway through the fourth quarter, capitalizing on an eight-play, 72-yard scoring drive, resulting in a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jordan Gile to Chase Rankin. A botched snap on the point-after attempt put kicker Oscar Simon in position to run into the endzone for a two-point play.

Central’s final drive came in the closing minutes of the game. The Eagles went 90 yards in just 2:18. The 11-play drive concluded when Gile found Tristan Boyce from six yards out for the score. The extra point made the final score 26-15 in favor of Texas College with four ticks left on the clock.

Even though it took nearly three and a half quarters to figure it out, Central’s passing game began clicking. Coach Brown said that once his guys adjusted in the second half, the team was able to move the ball a little bit.

“It just took a little while to get through to get to some of those things,” he said.

The relief was palpable after Central scored its first touchdown of the season despite the scoring margin.

“We just needed that light to come on sooner for guys,” Brown said. “And that’s the that’s the frustrating part because that was some of us last year, too. And this team has a very different personality than last year’s team. Our veteran guys have got to get those young guys going a little more. Now that they’ve started to see, they know what the expectation is. That’s what I’m going to build on going forward.”

Gile finished the game completing 23 of 40 passing attempts for 232 total yards and a pair of touchdowns. After picking up steam in the second half, Central nearly matched Texas College’s 248 passing yards.

Brown said he was pleased with his sophomore quarterback’s performance in his debut as a starter.

“I think Jordan did a good job. To go out there and lead…and he took some shots, and he kept getting up,” Brown said. “He’s one of the best competitors I’ve been around. And he’s still young. We’re getting him there. He’s got a way to grow, but he’s got a fire about him that I know is going to pay off for us as we go.”

Rankin led the receiving core with three catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Boyce followed with four receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.

But what was lacking for the Eagles was a solid running game. Central netted just 15 yards rushing, compared to an anemic 65 yards for TC.

“If we’re going to make a run, and we’re really going to build this where we need to build it, we need to establish a run game, and we knew we’ll need to be able to stop the run on the defensive side. And our defense did a pretty good job,” Brown said.

Coach Brown also said that finishing with just 15 yards in the positive for the rushing game is something that must change.

“That was embarrassing, to be quite honest about it,” he said. “The bottom line is, you’re not going to win games running for 15 yards.”

Keeping the rushing game in positive numbers was Fayette native Garren Vroman. Back for his junior season, he carried the ball 14 times for 39 yards. He also made three catches for 34 yards.

Vroman sat out the second half of his sophomore season with a knee injury. Brown said he is in top form to begin the season and won the starting assignment on Saturday.

“Garren is one of our hardest-working guys,” said Coach Brown. “Being local, this is very important for him. He wants to be a guy who leaves a legacy here and to get this place where we want it to be in the time he’s here. The guy gives everything he has every day, just like he did tonight.”

Dylan Holt led the defense with six tackles and one pass breakup. Y’Marius Joshlin had a stellar showing on defense, finishing the evening with five tackles, including a game-high three sacks.

Matthew Higginbotham and Devin Watson each tallied five tackles, and Jaylon Williamson broke up four passes.

As a team, Central generated 247 yards of offense compared to 313 for Texas College. CMU also won the possession battle, holding the ball for 34:29. But the Eagles committed three turnovers in the 11-point loss.

Central hits the road for the next two games. On Saturday, the Eagles face Peru State College at 7 p.m. in Peru, Neb., to open Heart play and travel to Graceland in Lamoni, Iowa, on September 14. CMU returns to Davis Field for its only home game of the month to host Clarke (Ia.) at 2 p.m. on September 21.