Late touchdown helps Central stay undefeated, down Freeburg

The Central Cougars improved to 3-0 on the season as it survived a gritty defensive effort at Freeburg with a 16-10 win Friday night.

The Midgets led 10-8 until Central’s Brent Timmons dove across the goal line with 7:11 left to play in the game. Hunter Toebon hit Bailey Stewart for the two-point conversion to give the Cougars a 16-10 advantage.

“We were able to move the ball up and down the field but they forced some big turnovers in big spots,” Central coach Brian Short said. “I give them a lot of credit. We have a lot of respect for this staff and this program that we knew it was going to be a dog fight tonight.”

Freeburg led 10-8 at halftime and had a first-and-goal at the Cougar 9-yard line late in the third quarter. But Midget quarterback Joseph Wolf was sacked by Central’s Tarik Tibbs for a seven yard loss, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed Freeburg all of the way back to the 31 yard line. Facing a fourth-and-goal, Wolf hit John Hilpert with a pass on the right flat and Hilpert raced toward the end zone. But Central’s senior safety Brock Nunn stopped Hilpert at the one yard line to force Freeburg to turn the ball over on downs.

Central’s Brent Timmons dove into the endzone from a yard out with 7:11 to play in the game. Hunter Toeben hit Bailey Stewart with the two-point conversion pass to put Central ahead for good.

Central’s Brent Timmons rushed for 138 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown. Hunter Toeben added 77 yards rushing and passed for 73 yards including a touchdown.

Freeburg quarterback Joseph Wolf was 16 of 24 passing for 176 yards, running for a touchdown as well. Bobby Tedesco ended with 58 yards rushing as Will Hogan caught seven passes for 78 yards.

“We haven’t been 3-0 since 2011 and we knew coming in this was going to be a big swing game for us,” Short said. “We are one win closer to the playoffs and that’s a major goal for us after being left out last year for the first time in five years. We are trying to build a program and you can’t do that with losing seasons.”

“(Central) has scored a lot the first two games of the season and I can’t say enough about how we prepared for a high-powered offense like that,” Freeburg coach Ronnie Stuart said. “I was calling plays not to lose instead of to win in the second half and I’ve got to do a better job of that. Our kids gave a great effort, the best of the season so far, and that’s all I can ask from our guys.”

Central takes on Carlyle next week in Breese. Freeburg plays host to St. Vincent.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Late touchdown helps Central stay undefeated, down Freeburg."