Center falls behind, but winds up defeating O’Hara 21-9

O’Hara football coach Jim DeMarea will celebrate the big 6-0 birthday on Sunday. On Friday night, though, Center showed it still has his team’s number.

Make it five consecutive times that the Center Yellowjackets have defeated the O’Hara Celtics, who hadn’t experienced a loss in 2014. Center scored 21 unanswered points, rallying to beat O’Hara 21-9 in a West Central Conference game at Center.

Center coach Bryan DeLong was so ecstatic that he told his team that today’s morning postgame film session would start 30 minutes later than usual. It was their treat for a job well done.

“That was an undefeated team we beat,” DeLong said. “We get excited about O’Hara. We have a lot of respect for that program. We got behind. But we didn’t blink.”

Center, 7-1, denied O’Hara (7-1), ranked No. 3 in The Star’s small-class poll and fourth in Missouri Class 3, from winning its first eight games of the season, which only has happened twice in the Celtics’ history (1982, 1999).

Early it looked as if the Celtics might get it done. They scored nine points in the first quarter.

Soon after that point, rain started falling. That also was about the time that Center’s dry spell ended. Eventually, the Yellowjackets drenched O’Hara with their 21-point run to finish them off.

“Defensively, they did what they did best,” DeMarea said about Center. “They come right at you. When they had their chances, they ran right over us.”

Nobody did that better than Center running back Tony Caldwell. He rushed for 138 yards in 21 carries. His 5-yard touchdown run put the Yellowjackets on the board in the second quarter. Then in Center’s first drive in the second half, he completed their march with a 4-yard scoring run. Adding a two-point conversion run by DeMarcus Burns, the Yellowjackets led 15-9.

“We knew we had to play hard. We knew we had to run hard,” Caldwell said. “We went in at halftime knowing they were good, but we felt they were beatable. We did what we had to do.”

Center’s defense put the clamps on O’Hara down the stretch. The Yellowjackets’ young secondary buoyed their cause. It was evident when sophomore defensive back Rachaad White intercepted a Michael Briggs pass that was tipped first by wide receiver D.J. Jordan.

That play brought more joy for Center, who only needed to march 25 yards following the pick. On third-and-goal at the Celtics’ 3, Burns ran it in for a touchdown with 9:19 left in the game.

O’Hara kept pursuing, however. The Celtics got to Center’s 36, but the drive ended, and the Yellowjackets milked the clock.

DeLong said it wasn’t rocket science how his team showcased its resilience.

“We eliminated our mistakes, got three or four yards a pop instead of trying to get 80 in one play,” he said.

DeMarea may have been the veteran coach in this one. But he says DeLong is proof that he certainly has a good grasp of what it takes to succeed in this profession.

“Coach DeLong has turned that program upside down, and he has made his kids believe,” DeMarea said.

This story was originally published October 10, 2014 at 11:23 PM with the headline "Center falls behind, but winds up defeating O’Hara 21-9."