Hazelwood Central eyes “three-peat”

The football team came out with a purpose Saturday afternoon.

"We wanted to jump up and score a bunch of points early," said senior quarterback Jamal Flowers.

Consider it done. Mission accomplished.

Central used two early touchdowns and a strong defensive effort down the stretch to knock off DeSmet 20-14 in a Class 6 semifinal on its home turf.

The Hawks (13-0) and winners of 19 successive games, faces Kansas City Rockhurst (13-0) in the state championship game Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis.

Central seeks its third successive state championship and sixth overall.

The first half belonged to Flowers and company, and the defense took over down the stretch.  

"I'm pretty sure we surprised them," said senior running back Tra Brown, who scored the first two touchdowns on runs of 1 and 24 yards.

"We just wanted to start fast, get off on them and get the tempo going for our team," said Flowers, a transfer from Hazelwood West. "Tempo — that was what was important."

The Central offense slipped into a comfortable rhythm in the first half. Flowers hit his first six passes and, overall, eight of his first nine. He finished 11-for-15 with 189 yards and a touchdown.

Brown and senior A.J. Chappelle took care of the groundwork, while Flowers handled the air chores.

"We made some things happen early," Brown said. "Maybe they weren't ready for that."

Central defensive back Kevin Short set up the first score by recovering a fumble by DeSmet quarterback Durron Neal at the Spartans' 14-yard line. Four plays later, Brown scampered over the left side from one yard out on fourth-and-goal for the initial touchdown.

Less than three minutes later, the Hawks capitalized on another turnover to pump the lead up to 14-0. Defensive back Mike Jordan stopped a DeSmet drive by picking off a pass at the 22. Brown capped off a six-play drive by rambling around left end from 24 yards out.

Central put an exclamation point on the near perfect first half when Flowers connected with Short on a 56-yard slant over the middle for a score with 31 seconds left. Central took over on its own 31 with a minute left. Nixon chose to try and push across another score rather than sit on the ball and rolled into halftime with a 20-0 lead.

The gamble paid off.

DeSmet, which carried a five-game winning streak into the contest, battled back with a pair of quick scores in the third quarter. Quarterback Neal hit Ricky Spratley with an 8-yard scoring toss to trim the deficit, 20-7. On the Spartans' next possession, Malcolm Agnew scored on a 6-yard run to get his team to within six.

The Central defense took over from there.

"I have confidence in the defense," Flowers said. "I knew they'd get the job done."

DeSmet never came close the rest of the way. An 18-yard run by Neal accounted for the Spartans' only first down.

Hawks senior defensive lineman Tim Holmes sealed the victory by recovering a Neal fumble with 53 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Central defense forced four turnovers and held Agnew to 84 yards. Agnew, one of the top running backs in the state, has committed to Oregon State.

The Hawks, who improved to 15-0 in state semifinal games, carry plenty of momentum into the state championship game. Overall, the team has outscored its opponents 395-167 this season.

"The three-peat, that's what we've been talking about since the start of the year," said Brown, who has 12 touchdowns on the season. "Now, we're one step away from making it happen."