Miami Central puts running clock on Northwestern to win first 6A-3A GMAC championship
When these two teams met on this field at the beginning of the month, it took a last-second field goal for Miami Central to slip past Miami Northwestern in a pandemonium-filled affair.
There were far fewer theatrics on Thursday when the teams met for Round 2 at Traz Powell Stadium.
Just sheer domination from the Central Rockets.
Central jumped out to a two-score lead in the opening five minutes, had a running clock for the entire second half and cruised to a 49-6 win over Northwestern to win the 6A-3A championship in the inaugural GMAC Championship Series.
“We always say we play our best ball around playoff time,” Central coach Roland Smith said. “We knew if we didn’t turn the ball over like we did in the first game [against Northwestern], it wouldn’t have been that close. I just told them ‘If we clean up the act and keep the ball in our hands, it won’t be close.’ We did that tonight.”
It was Central’s fourth consecutive blowout win, outscoring opponents 191-18 ever since its last-second win over Northwestern on Oct. 1.
The Rockets have won seven consecutive games ever since opening the season with back-to-back losses to national powerhouses St. John Bosco and Bishop Gorman — the latter a one-point defeat on a missed field goal in the waning seconds — as they get ready to compete for a Class 5A state title.
As for the contributions on Thursday, where to begin?
Quarterbacks Dylan Tulloch and Keyone Jenkins split reps with Tulloch playing the first and third quarters while Jenkins played the second and fourth quarters.
Tulloch opened scoring with a 2-yard rushing touchdown to cap a four-play, 57-yard opening drive highlighted by a 40-yard run by Ghana Oboh on the first play from scrimmage. Tulloch also had a 36-yard passing touchdown on a screen pass to Jonathan Harris to extend Central’s lead to 21-0 eight minutes into the game.
Corey Washington returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in between those two scores.
Jenkins led the Rockets to touchdowns on three of his four drives in the second quarter, the first of which he entered mid series. He completed 6 of 11 passes for 130 yards in the first half and added a rushing touchdown of his own. His 33-yard pass down the left sideline to Joshisa Trader set up a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Oboh on a direct snap. A 34-yard pass set up a 5-yard touchdown run from Harris. And a 32-yard pass to Trader after an Anthony Rose interception gave the Central offense a short field set up Jenkins’ 5-yard touchdown run to go into halftime with a 42-6 lead.
Ean Pope added a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown for Central to close scoring.
Northwestern (7-3) scored its only points on a Jamri Ford 75-yard catch-and-run with six minutes left in the first half.
Outside of that play, Central dominated at the line of scrimmage. The Rockets sacked Northwestern quarterback Taron Dickens six times and allowed the Bulls to pick up just six first downs — four of which came via penalties.
Next up: The playoffs. Central won state titles each of the past two years in Class 6A. They are in 5A this year, but the goal remains the same.
“As a coaching staff, we’ve got to keep them humble and hungry,” Smith said. “We know if you have a bad night in the playoffs, you go home. For us to have a great team, we don’t deserve to go home early.”
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