Central falls to Bolivar in defensive struggle

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

The final postseason spot coming out of Region 7-3A was on the line Friday night in Troy as the Rebels looked to punch their ticket to the TSSAA Class 3A Playoffs against Bolivar Central. Trailing after a late first-half touchdown by the Tigers, Obion County Central answered and had chances to pull ahead through the second half but were unable to get on the board and fell 7-6 to Bolivar.

“We had some opportunities,” Obion County Central Head Coach Clayton Morris said. “Even in the first half, we had opportunities.

“It was another night when out defense played extremely well. We’re out-athleted in a lot of spots and, with the exception of a bad snap on a punt, I don’t know if either offense has much success.”

The play Morris referenced came with about 3:30 left in the first half as a high snap over the Rebel punter’s head was recovered by Central at the Obion County 14-yard line. From there, Bolivar seemed destined to score as a fumble on the first play resulted in an 8-yard gain for the Tigers after being recovered at the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Tiger quarterback Colton Mayfield kept the ball for a five-yard touchdown run. The extra point gave Bolivar a 7-0 lead at the half.

The Rebels got their chance to respond in the second half after an interception by Harrison Hooper at the Tiger 46-yard line with 8:13 left in the third quarter. Central rode the back of record-setting running back Tucker Moore to the red zone, which included a leaping run to set up the only score of the night for the Rebels. Moore scored from six yards out to cut the deficit to one with 4:35 left in the third quarter. But, Central’s extra point attempt went wide right to leave the home team trailing 7-6.

“The defense was able to get an interception there after finally relating to their concepts and giving the offense some life,” Morris explained. “Giving them a spark. We hoped we could catch fire in a bottle at that point.”

In fact, Central may have for a moment as the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Rebels at the Bolivar 49-yard line. But, after good run by Moore to open the drive, the Rebel offense stalled near the 30-yard line of the Tigers and turned the ball over on downs.

Bolivar looked to capitalize as the Tigers drove down the field over the course of 14 plays thanks to a pair of penalties by the Rebels. Mayfield nearly punctuated the drive on the 13^th play but was ruled down just around a foot shy of the goal line. Facing fourth down, the Rebel defense came up with a big play, forcing a fumble and recovering it at their own 4-yard line to stop the Tiger drive.

“There’s no denying their fight,” Morris said. “We can pinpoint a lot of things but you can’t deny their fight.

“You’re fourth-and-goal on the one-foot-line. I mean, it’s inches. To make a big time play there in a one-point game – that’s massive. Never question this team’s fight. And, I hope the underclassmen see these seniors and that’s what they have brought. They can carry on with that in the future.”

Central was poised to ride the momentum of the Tiger turnover and even got a penalty on Bolivar to pick up a first down at the Rebel 24-yard line. Morgan Carpenter picked up another fresh set of downs with a run to the Rebel 35-yard line. Again, the offense stalled as a Tiger sack forced the Rebels to punt with 4:30 left in the game.

The Tigers looked on their way to securing the win at this point as two early first downs were followed by a third one on a personal foul penalty by the Rebels on third down. But, again the Rebel defense came up with a big play, forcing another fumble which Central’s defense recovered at its own 40-yard line.

The Rebel rally, though, was unsuccessful as four incomplete passes and a pair of penalties ended the Central momentum with a turnover on downs. The Tigers ran out the clock to secure the win and the fourth seed from Region 7-3A.

“We just ran out of steam and Bolivar made the plays that they needed to make at the end,” the Rebel head coach added. “What a freakin’ great Week 11 ball game.

“You couldn’t ask for a better Week 11 ball game even though it sucks coming out on the other end of that. Man, what a game, hats off to Bolivar. And, hats off to our kids. They fought and fought. This one is going to hurt but the seniors are leaving this program in a better place than it was two years ago when I got here. Coach Palmer had a big senior class and we struggled last year.”

Morris added he felt his team had a lot of growth during the 2025 season. With the offseason now beginning for the Rebels, the Central coach said the building begins for 2026.

“We’ve shown growth,” Morris said. “We struggled and won three games last year. Yeah, we made the playoffs but you only had to win one region game.

“Now, we’re in a region where you gotta compete. We’ve got a lot of good teams in this region and we put ourselves in a situation here to have a chance to go to the playoffs and we were one point short. So, I think, again, it’s not where we wanted to be and it’s not where I envisioned us being. But, the thing is getting these kids to believe. We’ve got to get back to work and have a great offseason. And, we’ve got a lot of shoes to fill. We’ve got a lot of seniors that have been playing a long time. That have done phenomenal things. Our underclassmen are going to have to step up and do some big things to make sure we don’t have a step back next year.”

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