Rally for the ages: Central’s 24-point second half vaults Panthers into Class 1A state semifinals

CAMP POINT, Ill. — Central quarterback Nick Moore’s post-game assessment was rather poignant.

And precise.

“The first half was kind of rough,” Moore said in matter-of-fact fashion.

Yep, pretty much much nailed it, Nick.

Fortunately, there are two halves in a high school football game.

The margin of Central’s 24-12 Class 1A quarterfinal playoff victory Saturday afternoon over Greenfield-Northwestern is misleading in that a late Panthers score provided more cushion than realistically had existed. 

That final point spread also is not indicative of the hole Central found itself in at halftime. The Panthers had been outgained, outscored and essentially outplayed over the first two quarters.

“It would have been easy to pack it in at halftime when we were trailing 12-0, but these guys are a different group,” Central coach Brad Dixon said. “This is a special bunch.”

There’s no arguing Dixon’s praises — not after a stirring second-half comeback, which was punctuated by a pair of highlight-reel touchdowns that helped Central advance to next Saturday’s 2 p.m. semifinals at Colfax Ridgeview-Lexington (12-0). Colfax ousted Tuscola 41-6 on Saturday.

The Panthers will go into the semifinals with a school-record number of victories. Central also won a dozen games in 2018 (12-2) and 2012 (12-1).

Central’s first of two memorable plays came midway through the third quarter when on a fourth-and-2 call at the Greenfield 20-yard line, Moore found a wide-open Isaac Genenbacher for a touchdown that gave the Panthers a 16-12 advantage following a two-point conversion.

Genenbacher had been able to split the Greenfield secondary on a play call Dixon said came from a 2017 victory over Carrollton.

“When it’s the right play, it’s the right play,” Dixon said.

It was definitely the right play.

Genenbacher motored into the end zone untouched after securing a perfect spiral from Moore, who completed 6 of 8 passes for 81 yards.

“I don’t care about my stats,” Moore said. “We’ve got a lot of running backs who can do the job.”

And that includes Drew Paben, who is good off-the-field friends with Moore.

“Drew’s been my boy since third grade,” Moore said.

Paben was instrumental in what wound up being Central’s clinching score, which came with a little more than two minutes to play when he rambled 45 yards for a touchdown. What was basically a jet sweep to the right, a play according to Paben was designed to simply pick up a couple of yards and help maintain possession, evolved into much more.

“There wound up being a big hole,” Paben said. “I’ve got to give it to the offensive line for that one.”

Paben said it was a memorable tightrope he worked down the right sideline.

“I could hear everyone cheering and then saw (my teammates and fans) huggin’ one another,” he said.

In between those two big-play touchdowns, Central also turned in a key defensive stand. The Panthers’ defense, linebacker Darren Rigg in particular, stopped Greenfield quarterback Dylan Pembrook on a fourth-down play just shy of the goal line.

“That play at the goal line was phenomenal,” said Dixon, who is now 110-24 at Central since 2011.

Central’s victory over Greenfield also awarded the Panthers the unofficial Western Illinois Valley Conference overall championship. Central had won the WIVC North and Greenfield the WIVC South. Central’s victory also helped avenge a 30-14 loss to the Tigers in 2020.

Since that defeat, Central has gone 22-2.

Central’s other touchdown came on its first possession of the third quarter. The Panthers took the kickoff and marched the length of the field with Genenbacher scoring on a 3-yard run. That touchdown seemed to stem the tide of momentum Greenfield had built in the first half.

“Scoring first in the second half was a key,” Dixon said.

Central’s first-half deficit was only the second time all season the Panthers had trailed. The other was 8-0 to Unity in Week 3.

In three postseason games, Central has outscored its opponents 116-12. Greenfield was only the second team to reach double figures against a Panthers defense that has shut out seven teams.

Although Central’s vaunted ground game got some traction in the second half, the Panthers managed just 200 net yards for the game, by far its lowest total of the season. Central had not run for less than 286 yards all season and had surpassed 300 yards for eight consecutive games.

Genenbacher led Central’s ground game with 76 yards on 16 tries. Paben had 69 yards on five runs.

Central will have an opportunity to establish a new school rushing record next week. The Panthers’ 3,846 yards currently sit third all-time behind the 2013 team (4,043) and the 2014 club (4,016). Central will need 198 yards against Colfax for the record.

Genenbacher leads the Panthers in rushing with 896 yards and is 43 shy of 2,000 for his career.