Two interceptions for touchdowns spur Miami Central to win over Booker T. Washington
One big play. That’s what the Central Rockets were desperate for on Friday night.
Locked up in a scrum with another one of their neighborhood rivals, Booker T. Washington at Traz Powell Stadium, and having come out flat and lifeless against the fired up Tornadoes in the first half, Central trailed 14-7 early in the third quarter.
Perhaps still hung over from a rare lopsided beating at the hands of No. 2 nationally ranked St. Frances Academy (Maryland) six days earlier, the Rockets were on the ropes as Booker T. was threatening to score again.
Then came Wesley Bissaint and everything changed. Bissaint stepped in front of a tipped Torrey Morrison pass and took off 88 yards in the other direction for a pick-six. It was a play that turned the momentum of the game and gave his team the spark it needed as Central went on to win 32-29 in a game, thanks to a 90-minute weather delay in the second quarter, didn’t end until midnight.
“We were definitely struggling and needed something to get us going,” Bissaint said. “As soon as I saw the ball coming at me, I knew I had plenty of green in front of me to take it to the house. Last week’s game was tough, and we had to find a way to move on.”
After the Central defense forced a quick BTW three-and-out and short punt, the Rockets (1-1) took a lead they would never relinquish. On the next possession, they went 34 yards in just four plays, with running back Amari Daniels going in from 23 yards out.
The Rockets’ defense wasn’t done with the pick-sixes. Three plays into the next drive, Deidrick Stanley picked off a Morrison pass and bobbed and weaved his way 35 yards to the end zone. Just like that, a seven-point deficit had become a 26-14 lead.
“It was definitely a struggle early on for us, and our defense came up big tonight,” Central coach Roland Smith said. “This week was tough for us preparation-wise because a lot of weather issues forced us to practice inside with walk-throughs and stuff, and we still have a lot of things to clean up. But give Booker T. a lot of credit, they’re a great team, and we expected a tough battle tonight.”
Booker T. (1-1) could’ve packed it in at that point, but the Tornadoes, led by Morrison, kept battling back.
A 17-yard scoring strike from Morrison to Jacorey Brooks, early in the fourth made it 26-21 and, even after Central (1-1) scored to go back up 32-21 on a Kejon Owens’ touchdown run, came back again.
Morrison, who wound up putting up big numbers on the night (27-of-42 passing, 337 yards) led his offense downfield again. On a fourth-and-goal from the 11 with five minutes left, he scrambled to his right and, just before running out of bounds, found Brooks again for a touchdown, their third scoring hookup of the night.
The successful two-point conversion pass even went to Brooks, who also put up big numbers with 13 receptions for 119 yards and the three scores.
Booker T. had one last possession in the final minute as the Tornadoes reached midfield. But back-to-back sacks of Morrison, the second one by none other than Bissaint, ended the issue.
This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Two interceptions for touchdowns spur Miami Central to win over Booker T. Washington."