Two consecutive touchdown drives set the tone for Aberdeen on Senior Night. The rest of the contest was a spirited affair between two historical rivals.
Driven by junior running back Kylan Touch, the Bobcats scored on their first two possessions. After that, they took Centralia’s best shots and returned them, too, in a season-ending 35-12 victory in Evergreen 2A Conference play at Stewart Field on Friday.
Touch finished with 258 yards rushing and two touchdowns, plus a touchdown pass on a halfback option play, for Aberdeen (2-3, 4-5).
“Our guys came to play,” Aberdeen head coach Kevin Ridout said. “They wanted to win. We’re still young. The guys played a heck of a game. Bless (Kylan’s) heart. He did a great job. I’m proud of him in everything he’s done.”
Fired up to honor nine seniors on their final Aberdeen football game of their careers, the Bobcats ran the ball down the Tigers’ throats on their opening drive. On six plays, Touch ran the ball five times for 38 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run.
The second touchdown was fed by a Centralia fumble at midfield. Aberdeen lost some momentum, but sophomore quarterback Ben Dublanko got it back quickly. Dublanko, in his first game back after going through concussion protocol for the last two weeks, hit his first long ball of the night, a 51-yard touchdown toss and run down the middle to Elias Jimenez for a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Centralia got some momentum back by ending two Aberdeen drives on turnovers. The second one, a lost fumble on a snap, set up its first scoring drive, a 53-yard march ended on a Corde Journee 3-yard touchdown run at 14-6 midway through the second quarter.
Touch set up Aberdeen’s third scoring drive himself on defense, picking off Centralia quarterback Joey Aliff at the Tigers’ 22-yard line. Four plays later, Dublanko scrambled away from pressure and threw a jump ball to senior Braden Castleberry-Taylor, who outjumped two Centralia defenders for a 23-yard touchdown catch.
Aberdeen’s defense stepped up again and forced Centralia to lose the ball on downs with 58 seconds left in the first half. A 20-yard Touch run put the Bobcats in scoring range and Touch finished it. Taking a pitch from Dublanko, Touch stopped near the right sideline and threw a perfect ball to Castleberry-Taylor for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 6 seconds left in the half.
Leading 27-6 at the half, Aberdeen must have known it would be in a wild second half with Centralia. Throughout the contest, both teams were chirping and chippy with each other, gaining unsportsmanlike conduct and personal foul calls.
The Bobcats lost a chance in the red zone due to two concurrent personal foul calls midway through the third quarter, while the Tigers lost senior Cale Shute by ejection just before Aberdeen’s final touchdown.
Touch set up the Bobcats’ last score with a powerful 55-yard run to the Tigers’ 2-yard line. A horsecollar tackle added 1 yard for first-and-goal. Dublanko tried a sneak, but was held up from scoring. In the scrum, a Centralia player was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. Touch scored from 1-yard out one play later for the final score.
“There was some adversity going on out there tonight,” Ridout added. “Our guys kept their cool. It is football and you get your temper up, but I’m really proud of the class the kids played out there. Let’s get to the seniors. We’re going to miss these guys. They’ve been great leaders, the guys who have helped turn this program around. It was pretty cool.”
Seniors Tate Heple, Nick Newcomb, Damon McCormick, Castleberry-Taylor, Jimenez, Davis Housden (three PAT kicks on the night), Marquise Flynn, Andres Cisneros, Michael Torres and Benton Butcher were honored in Senior Night pre-game festivities.
