Stick to what you know: Central rushes for more than 300 yards once again, reaches state quarterfinals

CAMP POINT, Ill. — Don’t kid yourself, that well-grounded approach to offense employed by Central’s football team is by no means an accident or simple happenstance.

Yep, there’s a specific method to the successful madness on those wind-swept plains just outside of Camp Point.

“We’ve always been a running team here,” junior two-way lineman Reese Wilkey said.

And with good reason, too.

“Running the ball is a lot safer — and easier — than passing,” Wilkey explained.

Central’s commitment to the run was in evidence again on a brisk Saturday afternoon that saw the Panthers dominate Sesser-Velier-Waltonville 24-0 in a second-round Class 1A playoff game.

Central, now 11-0 and reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018, rushed for more than 300 yards for the eighth straight game. The Panthers were in full control throughout, limiting SVM (8-3) to four first downs and 65 yards of offense. Much of that 65-yard figure came in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.

“The idea was to not let them have the ball,” Central coach Brad Dixon said, only half-kiddingly.

In an era of football when even many high school teams are resorting to a wide-open, throw-first mentality on offense, Central is an interesting anachronism, a throwback to a completely different time.

The Panthers average 311.1 yards per game on the ground and have rushed for 54 touchdowns, six shy of the 2013 school record of 60.

“The guys all buy into (our philosophy) and are prepared,” Dixon said.

That might be an understatement.

Central scored all four of its touchdowns via the run — three by senior Isaac Genenbacher. That was more than enough for the Panthers’ dominating defense, which recorded its second straight postseason shutout and seventh overall. The Panthers also denied SVM its first trip to the quarterfinals since 1991.

Genenbacher scored on first-half runs of 1 and 29 yards, then capped his day with a 19-yard burst in the third quarter. Drew Paben completed Central’s touchdown output with an 8-yard run, also in the third quarter.

“We’re a family here,” Genenbacher said. “We have great communication and great team chemistry.”

Wilkey agreed.

“That chemistry makes us strong,” he said.

Genenbacher, who ended with 112 yards on 15 runs, leads a balanced Panthers ground game with 819 yards. Eighteen different Panthers have carried the ball this season.

Genenbacher, who has rushed the ball just 88 times this season, moved his career yardage to 1,880. Another 120 yards will make him the sixth player in Dixon’s 12 years as coach to reach 2,000 yards.

Genenbacher owns the second-best career yards per-carry average of 9.79. Alger Saldana, who played from 2012-14, averaged 10.09 yards per run en route to a 2,401-yard career. Garrett Kestner (2009-11) is the career rushing leader during Dixon’s tenure with 3,276 yards.

Conner Griffin finished with 93 yards and Ross Riley 73. Griffin, Riley and Genenbacher have combined for more than 2,100 rushing yards this season.

Defensively, Central was able to immobilize all facets of an SVM offense, which had dominated Moweaqua Central in a 49-12 first-round victory.

“We do a lot from our basic defense,” Dixon said. “There’s nothing fancy.”

But plenty of results.

Central, which has allowed more than one touchdown just once this season, allowed SVM relatively deep into its own territory only twice but was able to preserve the 30th shutout of Dixon’s career.

“We talk a lot about togetherness,” Dixon said. “There’s always about 25 to 30 of our guys hanging out together. Our seniors work a lot with our younger players, and that’s important because we have a lot of juniors, sophomores and freshmen who play.”

The game could have been far more lopsided if Central had been able to capitalize on more of its scoring opportunities. The Panthers were stopped four times deep in SVM territory.

Central is now 18-10 in the postseason under Dixon, 19-14 in school history.

Next on the Central postseason schedule is Greenfield-Northwestern, which will represent a de facto Western Illinois Valley Conference championship game next Saturday at a time still to be determined. Greenfield (10-1) won the WIVC South and Central the WIVC North.

Greenfield Toledo Cumberland (8-3) on Saturday 26-0.

“We’ve had some good games with Greenfield,” Dixon said. “It’s been a fun rivalry.”

It’s a matchup the players have been anticipating.

“When I first saw the (postseason) brackets, I thought we might meet them,” Genenbacher said.

Central and Greenfield have not played since the Covid-related spring season of 2021. Greenfield won that game 30-14. Since that loss, Central has gone 20-2.