Colts Rack Up Rushing Yards in Win Over Longhorns

On a night when Brandon Sheperd was held in check, the  football team found offensive production from other sources.

Logan Boyher scored on a 74-yard run and Devon Westley added a 35-yard rushing touchdown as Central built a 14-3 halftime lead en route to a 41-3 victory at Parkway West Friday night.

“We’re happy to get out of here (with a win),” Central coach Mark Goldenberg said. “Our defense was real, real solid.”

Central’s victory keeps the Colts unbeaten through five games and is the fourth consecutive loss for West, spoiling homecoming.

Central running back Alan Gasanli added 162 yards on 23 carries, including a 44-yard touchdown run on the opening series of the second half.

“That felt great,” said Gasanli, who added a 13-yard score early in the fourth quarter. “We just had to grind it out. Our passing game was off, so we had to run it and the offensive line did a great job.”

When told that his offense generated 351 rushing yards, Goldenberg modestly said, “That’s not bad.”

The Parkway West Longhorns (1-4) were patient in the first quarter and played keep-away. West ran 16 plays in the opening stanza on two possessions, limiting Central to a single possession that lasted just five plays and went for 29 yards.

“We’ve moved the ball effectively and then when we get into the red zone, we’ve got to be able to capitalize,” West coach Jeff Duncan said. “That’s been our Achilles’ Heel. But we played a heck of a team and we had two really good quarters against those guys. We’ve got to continue to fight to get a good game.”

Sheperd, the heavily recruited 6-foot-2 senior wideout, had just two touches in the first half—an 11-yard reception and a 3-yard run on third-and-9—both on the opening drive.

“They did a pretty good job of trying to take Sheperd away,” said Goldenberg, who wasn’t sure why his quarterback had an off night.

Central senior Cole Gorman entered the game completing over 60 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Friday night was a completely different story as he finished with just three completions for 45 yards on 16 attempts.

“Cole has been so good for us, but he didn’t have his best game,” Goldenberg said. “We talked about balance last week, where if they take something away, to be able to do something else. A lot of kids contributed and our offensive line is starting to get it.”

After Gorman missed a pair of open receivers, the Colts were forced to punt on their second possession. That’s when Goldenberg went into his bag, calling for a fake punt from his own 26-yard line. The execution was perfect as Boyher followed Andre Booker up the sideline for a 74-yard score and a 7-0 lead with 10:15 remaining in the half.

“It looks good when it works. You look like an idiot when it doesn’t, so I’m glad it did,” Goldenberg said. “Aaron Miller, our special teams coach, put that in this week. He does an amazing job of scouting and seeing things that will work. He said it would work just like it did, so I’ve got to give him all the credit on that one. It was great execution of a good call. That was a huge, huge play.”

Gorman hit Sheperd on his first pass attempt for an 11-yard gain, but then missed on his next seven throws. His only other completion of the first half in 13 attempts required a diving, one-handed effort from Antwon Hoard and gained just 2 yards.

Gorman attempted only three passes in the second half with a single completion, but it was a 32-yard hookup with Sheperd to give the Colts a 28-3 lead with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter. Gasanli’s 44-yard score on the quarter’s opening series capped a four-play drive.

West quarterback J.C. DeMuri found some early success going after Central cornerback Ethan Lay, who was repeatedly beaten by Sam Newmaster and Cole Lema in the first half and was also flagged for pass interference and defensive holding penalties. But following DeMuri’s 5-for-6 start, he cooled off. The West quarterback finished 8-of-21 for 113 yards and two interceptions – one apiece coming on the final play of each half.

“You’ve got to give credit to (the Colts), they brought some more pressure and had better coverage to force some things,” Duncan said. “He’s a good quarterback and makes good decisions. We knew our receivers were going to have to make plays, but we’ll continue to work on that and try to put two halves together instead of just one.”

A 32-yard field goal by Steven Field with 4:23 remaining in the second quarter capped a clock-gobbling, 63-yard drive. Central responded, thanks to a 29-yard return of Field’s squib kick by Eriq Moore to the West 47. That led to an electrifying 35-yard run by Westley, who juked his way past three would-be tacklers and got some excellent downfield blocking.

With DeMuri struggling in the second half and West unable to run the ball – the Longhorns had just 73 rushing yards on 32 attempts – the Colts were able to keep the West offense inert.

“Once you get past 21 points, the defense can kind of pin its ears back and come,” Duncan said. “It’s all about us putting points on the board to help out our defense. Our defense had a great effort, but it doesn’t show on the scoreboard.”

A 4-yard Michael Slater run with 3:30 remaining in the game capped the scoring.

The Longhorns face a formidable foe next week in Webster Groves while Central takes on perennial power Kirkwood.

“It’s great to be 5-0, but next week, we’ll find out how good we really are,” Gasanli said. “It’s a big test.”