Central tops Live Oak for perfect district season

• By BILLY GIBSON
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Nov 7, 2009

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WATSON — Central High School completed a clean sweep through Class 5-5A competition with a 56-0 shutout win over Live Oak on Friday night.

Senior quarterback Will Briscoe closed out the regular season in convincing fashion, throwing for 372 yards and five touchdowns to lead the No. 4 Wildcats. He also scored on a 48-yard run on Central’s second play from scrimmage.

Three of those TD tosses went to Briscoe’s brother, Wes, who had seven receptions for 164 yards.

Though the Wildcats (9-1, 6-0) will now sit back and wait to learn who their first-round playoff opponent will be, all Will Briscoe and Central coach Sid Edwards could talk about was improving as a team.

“I’m ready for the playoffs and I think the team’s ready for it,” Will Briscoe said. “We’ve got the senior leadership we need to stay level-headed. We keep up the tempo every week and we try to get better every week, and that’s the key at this point in the season.”

Edwards concurred, noting that he’s seen improvement on both sides of the ball for Central as the season has progressed. Even though the Wildcats dominated most of their opponents this year, Edwards said it’s important to strive for an even higher standard entering the playoff phase.

“I think we have an offense that’s gotten better every week,” Edwards said. “Our defense has certainly gotten better every week and we’ll have to continue to get better with some of the people we’ll face. The regular season is all behind us now, and now we go to sudden death.”

The Wildcats didn’t need a sudden-death period to dismantle Live Oak.

In a game that pitted the area’s two top passing attacks, it was Central that spoiled Live Oak’s Senior Night by scoring on every possession.

The home-standing Eagles attempted to take control early by executing an onsides kick to start the game.

Central recovered, however, and two plays later Briscoe ripped right through the heart of Live Oak’s defensive backfield for his 48-yard touchdown run.

The Wildcats defense stopped the Eagles on the next series and scored again on their next play from scrimmage when Briscoe connected with Wes for an 86-yard touchdown.

Central scored twice more in the first period and went on to lead 42-0 at the half.