‘We’re a young team’: Keller Central Chargers drop homecoming game to Arlington Lamar
The most excitement the Keller Central Chargers got out of tonight’s game was the halftime announcement of homecoming king and queen.
The Chargers fell to Arlington Lamar 22-7 on Thursday at Keller ISD Stadium. Keller Central’s defense was solid enough to keep the game within reach, but the offense was outplayed by the Viking defense.
“Defensively, we gave ourselves a chance,” said head coach Mike Sports. “Offensively, we have to finish drives and take advantage of opportunities, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Keller Central allowed three touchdowns, and the first wasn’t until eight minutes had passed in the first quarter. It came via the legs of Arlington Lamar’s Trenton Yancey, who ran a quarterback keeper 80 yards into the end zone despite being listed as the starting wide receiver.
The Vikings attempted a two-point conversion, but the Chargers defense stopped it.
The Chargers also forced a fumble in the first when senior defensive lineman Devin Hubbard stripped the football from the hands of a Viking.
The Chargers attempted a field goal, but it was blocked.
The Vikings hit the scoreboard again on their own forced fumble. Lamar’s Cooper Barnard came up with the ball and returned it for a 31-yard touchdown.
The one time the Chargers reached the end zone was when sophomore quarterback Chevy Andrews kept it himself and split the Viking defense, running straight up the middle for a 43-yard touchdown. This season is Andrews’ first playing on varsity.
“He’s a quarterback, he has that mentality,” said Sports. “He’s a great runner, throws the ball well and he’ll learn to take advantage of coverage better when he gets older.”
The Charges added the point after via the leg of senior Max Miranda.
The Vikings added some insurance after a scoreless third quarter, adding three points via the leg of junior kicker Robert Duncan.
Barnard saw several parts of the field. He is listed as an outside linebacker, but he had a big role on the special teams operations, too. He was the main punt and kick returner and even took a few punts of his own.
The Vikings relied on an upperclassman running back duo for most of their yardage in the second half. Senior Sidney Anderson ran four straight times for a total of 18 yards. He had four other attempts before the end of the game, adding another nine yards.
His complement was junior Melvin Marshall. He was also fed the ball three times in a row in one drive, totaling a gain of nine. He had three other attempts before the clock hit zero, adding 16 more yards.
The Vikings scored six more points when quarterback Gannon Carey connected with senior wide receiver Jaylon Humbles for a 30-yard passing touchdown. A false start forced the Vikings to give up on the two-point conversion attempt and settle for one. Duncan’s kick missed, leaving them with just six.
Yancey was used in a utility role similar to Barnard. He was the target for a few passes in the end zone from quarterback Gannon Carey, but they pulled him out of bounds. The freshman was also used in the running back position, taking some hand offs for short gains.
He even went out for a punt late in the fourth quarter, which netted two yards and set the Chargers up to close the 15-point deficit.
Central came within one yard of the end zone, but a sack ended the advance and the game. The Vikings came out and took a knee to wind the clock down and improve to 1-2 on the season.
It’s evident the young Central team is still finding their chemistry.
A young team with room for improvement
Sports talked about the age of the team and how important that will be to their play this season. That included the missed opportunity at the goal line at the end of the game.
“We’re two scores down, but if we stick it in the end zone, we use our best onside kick and we have a chance to go,” said Sports. “We had great opportunities, I wish we would’ve stuck it in there and gave ourselves a chance.”
He talked about the difficulties of trying to comeback from a deficit and knowing how important every scoring opportunity can be regardless of the situation.
“We’re a young team and we don’t understand a lot of those things,” he said. “We lose our heart a little bit.”
Sports is looking forward to developing those young players, including Andrews.
“He’s a very smart kid and he’s coach-able, as well.”
Despite being the only Charger to reach the end zone, Andrews said he “could have done a lot better.”
In his first season on varsity, he said he’s not feeling intimidated at all.
“It’s just football, it’s all the same,” Andrews said. “Well, it’s a little faster.”
Tonight, it was a little too fast. The Chargers fall to 0-3 on the season and look to next week, when they take on the Haltom Buffaloes on the road.
