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The Drew Central Pirates’ historical season came to an end on Friday night at Mike Pennington Stadium in the second round of the 3A State Football Championship Tournament against the fourth seed out of the 3A-3, the Osceola Seminoles.
Osceola would win the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half of play.
Osceola’s Jeremiah McGowan would kick the ball away to begin the contest with Alex Pitts taking the ball for no return at their own 27.
Tyviance Wormley would get seven yards on the first carry of the game to the 34 but the Pirates would only gain two more yards on the drive before turning the ball over on downs at their own 36.
Osceola would advance the ball down to the Pirate two yard line with Maurice Washington would take it in on the quarterback keeper for the Seminole touchdown.
McGowan added the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
Tre’Bennett Fuller would take the kick from McGowan after the score for a 49-yard return with 15 yards added on for a horse collar tackle by the Seminoles to give the Pirates field position to the Osceola 19.
Osceola would jump offsides before the snap to move the ball to the 14 before Fuller would break free on the next play for the 14-yard touchdown run.
Hunter Griffin came in to add the extra point to tie the game 7-7.
The Pirate defense would force the Seminoles to punt on their next possession with the Pirates taking over at their own 43, but the Seminole defense would also force the Pirates to punt to regain possession at the Osceola 28 after a 13-yard return.
Osceola’s drive would extend into the second quarter with the Seminoles scoring with 9:44 seconds remaining in the half on a one-yard run by Washington for the 14-7 lead.
The Pirates would begin their next drive on their own 37 after a 19-yard return on the kickoff by Blake Chandler, but on the first play of the drive the Pirates would fumble the ball with Osceola’s Deizel Freeman recovering to give the Semioles the ball at the Pirate 45.
Washington would get his third score of the game on the drive, taking the ball in from four yards out and after the extra point, Osceola had extended their lead to 21-7.
The Pirates advanced the ball into Seminole territory on the next drive, but the drive would end on the second turnover in the quarter on a fumble that was recovered by Osceola at their own 31.
The Seminoles would move the ball into Pirate territory on the first play of the drive and down to the Pirate 14 three plays later.
Washington would connect with Tyler Bell on the 14-yard pass for the touchdown, increasing the lead to 28-7 after the extra point.
The Pirates could not get much offense going on their next drive, turning the ball over on downs once more after going for it on fourth down, giving the Seminoles the ball at the Pirate 28.
Osceola would advance the ball down to the Pirate three where Washington would run into the endzone for the fourth time in the contest with 2:04 left in the half.
After the extra point, Osceola led the Pirates 35-7.
The Pirates would begin the next drive at their own 36 after a 26-yard return by Fuller.
Fuller would connect with Zae Bullard for a six-yard gain to the Pirate 42, but on the next pass attempt, Fuller’s pass would be intercepted at the Osceola 45 and returned to the Pirate 43.
The Seminoles would move the ball down to the Pirate 22 at the end of the half.
Osceola would receive the second half kickoff from Griffin at the Osceola five with a return to the 22, but a five-yard penalty would be assessed after an illegal forward lateral brought the ball back to the Osceola 17.
The Seminoles would advance the ball to their own 27 where Atrion Fulz would break free from the Pirate defense for a 44-yard gain down to the Pirate 29.
The Seminoles would get the touchdown on a 21-yard score on the next play.
The extra-point would be successful as the Seminoles extended the lead to 42-7 with 10:07 remaining in the third quarter.
With The score, the head referee called for the Sportsmanship Rule to be put into play with the remainder of the contest to be run with a running clock with the only stoppage coming on timeouts and injuries.
Chandler would have a 21-yard return on the kickoff, giving Drew Central possession at their own 38.
An intentional grounding call against the Pirates on the next play would move the ball back to the Pirate 23, and the Pirates would turn the ball over for the fourth time in the contest on the next play on their own 14 after a fumble was recovered by Osceola’s Garrison Cook.
The Seminoles would reach the endzone for the final time in the contest on two plays and with the extra-point, led 49-7.
Chandler would gain 45 yards on the kickoff to give the Pirates possession at the Osceola 34.
Wormley would gain 10 yards on the next play, down to the 24, and on the next play, Fuller would connect with Chandler for the 24-yard touchdown pass.
Griffin would add the extra-point to make the score 49-14.
Osceola would be forced to punt on the next possession, with the Pirates taking over at their own 30.
On the first play of the drive, the PIrates would have their fifth turnover of the contest after the fourth fumble of the game was recovered by Osceola at the Pirate 30.
Osceola would drive down to the Pirate six before they would fumble the ball with Drew Central’s Jacks Johnson recovered the ball for the Pirates at the 12 yard line and would return the ball to the Pirate 28.
Fuller would connect with Jayden Jones on the first play of the drive for a 72 touchdown run.
Griffin would add the extra-point to set up the final score of 49-21 with Osceola advancing to the quarterfinal round to face Salem and the Pirates season coming to an end.
With the loss, the Pirates finished the season with the best record in school history with an overall record of 6-6, their best finish in the 8-3A Conference in history with a second place finish.
Posting a winning conference record for the first time, hosting their first playoff game and advancing to the second round.
The Pirates head coach, Larry White also won his first 8-3A Confernce Coach of the Year award.
