Rakers catches winning pass as Central rallies to slip by Mascoutah

A season-opening victory over the Mascoutah Indians was enough to make Central senior Ben Rakers cry.

Rakers was on the receiving end of a 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hunter Toeben with 9.9 seconds remaining to give the Cougars a thrilling 33-27 come-from-behind victory over the Indians at Central High School.

“I’ll be honest with you, there were tears in my eyes after I made that catch,” said Rakers, who was well covered on the play but still made the catch as he cut toward the middle of the end zone from the left side. “I knew I had the guy beat for a second, and he tried everything he could to knock it away after I caught it, but there was no way I was going to let it get away.

“That’s the first time in a while that I’ve played receiver, so I was a little uncomfortable out there. It felt great when my teammates mobbed me. I got a little emotional.”

In addition to his touchdown, Rakers also carried the ball 13 times for 117 yards, including 41-yard run on a fake punt that set up the Cougars’ second touchdown of the game.

It seems Rakers was not the only one shedding tears as the game wound down. Central coach Brian Short also seemed to be caught up in the moment, according to first-year Mascoutah coach Josh Lee.

Struggling to contain Mascoutah junior quarterback Darrius Cooley, Central trailed the Indians much of the game and found themselves down 27-19 with 9 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.

“Coach Lee had tears in his eyes coming up and talking to me about our kids,” said Lee, whose team went 0-9 in 2015, including a 39-0 loss to Central in the season opener, and came into Friday having lost 11 in a row. “He could not believe what is going on with our group of guys since this time last year.

“These kids have been hungry since I stepped into the door and I think it is pretty admirable for him to notice that.”

Short said was pleased with how his team never gave up.

“For three and half quarters, we did not play very well and really put ourselves into a tough spot,” Short said. “but when push came to shove our guys really stepped up. Good thing we did, because this one would have been a real heartbreaker for us to lose.

Key moments

Down 12-7 at halftime, a 17-yard touchdown run by Cooley on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and an 85-yard interception return for a score by Malik Green staked Mascoutah to a 21-12 lead with 4:59 lead left in the third quarter.

But Central refused to wilt.

A 3-yard TD run by Collin Thomas drew the Cougars within 21-19 late in the third quarter.

Mascoutah answered with a 15-yard scoring run by the shifty Cooley, who finished the game with 14 carries for 117 yards and two TDs, but missed its second straight extra point.

That came back to haunt the Indians, when Hudner capped an eight-play drive with a 17-yard scoring run and then connected with Brice Haselhorst on a two-point pass to tie it with 2:47 remaining.

The Cougars forced the Indians into a three-and-out on their ensuing possessing, setting the stage for the game-winning drive.

That drive featured a key 9-yard run on third down by Thomas and an 8-yard pass from Toeben to Dalton Wise, which set them up at the Mascoutah 11.

Following Rakers’ winning catch, Central opted to squib kick to keep the ball away from Mascoutah’s speedy return men.

The ball bounced off a player in the Indians’ second line of defenders and Thomas recovered the ball to seal the win.

“That kid right there is what this team is all about,” said Short pointing at Thomas, who also rushed for 89 yards and was a force on defense at linebacker. “On that last drive there, he was gassed, and I asked him if he wanted to come out and he told me he wanted the ball and got a big first down for us.

“Then he makes that play there at the end with the fumble recovery. That’s how we want our kids to play all of the time.”

A sloppy contest, the game featured eight turnovers, four on each side.

Toeben finished the game 13 of 27 passing for 168 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 12:21 AM with the headline "Rakers catches winning pass as Central rallies to slip by Mascoutah."