Central Outlasts Hamilton in 56-38 Shootout

What defensive battle?

Brookfield Central broke their long-standing history of having a grind-it-out type game with Sussex-Hamilton by knocking off the Chargers, 56-38, in a barnburner of a game that saw huge offensive numbers and lasted over three hours.

“We knew that’s a great Sussex-Hamilton football team, they’re well coached and every time you play them you’ve got to be ready, but I didn’t expect that high of scoring,” Brookfield Central head coach Jamie Meulemans said. “They play great defense year in and year out and we pride ourselves in that too, but our kids are really starting to click offensively.

“It’s been outstanding to see the kids pick up (the offense). It’s like preseason in the NFL. You start to see teams come together; they’re hitting their timing on their routes and less mistakes.”

The Lancers 3-1 (2-0 Greater Metro Conference) offense looked very much in sync as it amassed over 350 yards (326 on the ground) Friday night.

Senior quarterback Jason Meichtry led the charge for Central, gathering 163 yards on 23 carries (7.1 yards per carry) and three scores, while adding 71 yards through the air and another touchdown.

“The thing I’m most proud of about Jason is his leadership,” Meulemans said. “We made him a captain a couple weeks ago and he’s been showing that since day one. I’ve been getting more and more reports from other coaches about his work either.

“All facets of the game he’s there for us and he’s just a great player.”

While Meichtry tallied the largest numbers for the Lancers, it was the two scores by sophomore tailback DeMario Harris that proved to be the difference.

After Hamilton 3-1 (1-1 GMC) whittled away at Central’s lead to find themselves down 42-38 at the start of the fourth quarter, they looked primed to continue their second-half push and take their first lead of the game as they forced the Lancers to punt for the second-straight time.

Instead, the Chargers fumbled the punt return and five plays later, Harris rumbled five yards for his first score of the game to stretch the lead back to 11 with 9:19 remaining.

Two straight possessions that resulted in a turnover on downs by Hamilton, followed by a 16-yard weaving touchdown-run by Harris finally put the cap on a wild game that saw over 700 yards of total offense.

“It was unfortunate there,” Hamilton head coach John Damato said. “We thought we had the momentum on our side and then it switched after that (fumbled punt). It was just one of those nights. We’ll learn from it, we’ll move on and we have great kids here that have a lot of resiliency and they pride themselves in their character and it showed tonight. I know we got down, but they never stopped fighting.”

Things might have ended differently had it not been for a slew of injuries to key players for the Chargers.

Already with two long touchdowns in the first half (75 and 61 yards), Nick Patterson struck again in the second half, returning the opening kickoff of the second half deep into Lancer territory and later scoring on a 51-yard run to spark the comeback.

The senior wide receiver dislocated his elbow on a run in the third quarter and was unable to return.

Starting quarterback Matt Judson and all-conference free safety Aaron Mushall also suffered injuries for the Chargers Friday night and were unable to return.

“We’ll have some new faces next week so we’ll have to coach up our kids and guys that have been waiting for opportunities, now it’s time to have a sense of immediacy and here we go,” Damato said.

Patterson’s younger brother Drew rattled off a 27-yard run of his own for a score in the third quarter and backup quarterback Mark Gryskiewicz connected with senior wideout J.J. Flor to draw the deficit to just four, but the injuries and turnovers proved to be too much for the Chargers to handle.

Central was able to climb to stake an early lead in this one. On the game’s opening drive, the Lancers pounded the ball and methodically marched 72 yards, capped by a 1-yard run by Meichtry to take and early 7-0 lead.

After Nick Patterson’s 75-yard burst tied the game up two plays later, things settled down until the start of the wildness in the second quarter.

Meichtry added another 1-yard score with just over nine minutes to go before halftime to retake the lead at 14-7.

On Hamilton’s ensuing possession, junior defensive back Chris DuBois scooped up a fumble and scampered 20 yards to give the Lancers a pair of scores in just eight seconds.

Senior DJ Ley intercepted Judson’s pass on the next series to once again give Central good field position and Meichtry quickly connected with senior Derek Schmidt on a 27-yard pitch and catch to go from scoreless to 27-7 in a matter of 83 seconds.

Hamilton responded with Patterson’s second gashing run, but another Meichtry run before halftime kept gave the Lancers a comfortable lead at halftime.