Central Regional Earns First Playoff Berth in 10 Years

You could say it’s because of an outstanding running back. Or you could say it’s because of months spent in the weight room. Or you could say it’s about a group of kids who’ve learned how to believe in themselves.

It all adds up to one thing: the football team is making its first trip to the NJSIAA playoffs in 10 years.

“It feels great,” said , the senior running back who has been an integral part of the Golden Eagles’ surge this year, who scored all four Central touchdowns as the Golden Eagles defeated Lakewood, 28-22 on Friday night at Joseph J. Boyd Memorial Stadium.

“All that hard work is finally paying off,” said Ernie Ropas, a junior linebacker who had a key interception and applied pressure on Lakewood quarterback Tyrice Beverette much of the night.

Central (5-2) qualified for its first trip to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III sectional playoffs since 2001. More importantly, it appears the Golden Eagles have clinched a home game in the first round.

“It would be our first home playoff game ever,” said Hardy, who rushed for 299 yards on 40 carries. “We’ve come a long way from 1-9.”

That much was evident from the way Central played on Friday night, when it needed to shake off the previous week’s heartbreaking loss to Lacey – in what was the final regular-season meeting between the teams for at least the next two years – and take care of the business of beating Lakewood.

“You can’t change the past, only the future,” Ropas said.

At first, it appeared Central was going to bulldoze the Piners (2-5). Hardy took the opening handoff from his cousin, Javon Hardy, and follow blocking up the middle of the Lakewood defense to rumble to a 70-yard touchdown.

The Piners struggled to move the ball on the ensuing possession, and two minutes later Central had the ball back and moved downfield, with the big blow coming when Javon Hardy connecting with Kyle Gordon for a 43-yard pass completion on third-and-13 that set up Kalyph Hardy’s second score that made it 14-0 Central.

Lakewood answered with a score of its own, as Beverette found escape routes and seams to exploit in the Central defense, finally scoring on a 4-yard pass to Herbert White.

At that point, Central seemed out of sorts. Though Kalyph Hardy was getting the ball, he was getting turned back and shut down at every turn. On defense, Central seemed unable to contain Beverette, who kept moving his team downfield, whether it was running the ball on a designed keeper play or hitting one of his receivers for a pass in the secondary.

At halftime, the coaches told the team to “just keep playing our game,” Hardy said.

“We adjusted some blocking schemes and went back to some things had worked well,” head coach said.

Lakewood opened the second half by marching 60 yards – most of it with Beverette running the ball – for a touchdown, and the successful two-point conversion tied the game at 14.

Central answered on its next drive. Hardy broke to the short side and sprinted 57 yards for the score as the Golden Eagles went ahead 21-14.

That’s when Central began to show how different this team is. Kicker Austin DeRose booted the kickoff to the Piners’ 5-yard line, and Central’s tacklers swarmed returner Michael Randolph and dropped him at the 7. And the Golden Eagles tightly covered Beverette’s receivers, preventing him from finding an outlet. That coverage resulted in Ropas intercepting him to end the drive.

“I knew he was throwing right from the snap,” Ropas said. “All I was thinking was ‘Don’t drop it.’ “

Central made it 28-14 when Hardy scooted in from a yard out after the defense forced Lakewood to turn the ball over on downs at its 26.

The Piners weren’t done yet, however, and moved the ball 75 yards on eight plays, with Tyron Wimberly taking a toss from Beverette and strolling in from 8 yards out. A two-point conversion pass from Beverette to White drew the Piners within 6 at 28-22 with 5 minutes remaining.

But Central didn’t flinch. Anthony Giordano covered Lakewood’s onsides kick, and Central’s offense went to work, with Hardy grinding out the yardage to for a couple of first downs that allowed Central to run out the clock.

“I knew that (Lakewood’s touchdown) would put pressure on our offense,” Casale said. “Our backfield and our offensive line especially did a great job. Any time you can finish off the game on offense, it’s good. It’s a tremendous achievement by our offensive line.”

“Our crowd hasn’t been this riled up in a long time,” Hardy said.

And while the excitement will certainly climb now that the team has made it into the playoffs – especially if a possible rematch with Lacey comes to pass – for now the Golden Eagles are concentrating on their trip to Holmdel next Friday to face St. John Vianney.

“I am so happy for these kids. They have put in a tremendous amount of work for the last six months,” Casale said. “There was a lot of effort in the weight room. That was the key to us turning this program around, that weight room, and the superintendent and the school board made it happen.”