Strong first season at Central did not come as surprise to Eason

Pageland – When Jonathan Eason returned to his alma mater, Central High School, to become

the football head coach, he inherited a 3-8 team. The Eagles went 8-2 and finished second in Region 4-

AA this year.

Eason said he and his coaching staff were not surprised by the regular-season success.

So was there any shock when CHS reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs?

“We expected to make a run,” said Eason, whose team beat Landrum 36-26 and Saluda 26-15

before falling to Fairfield Central 48-28 to finish with a 10-3 overall record.

Eason believes this year was just the start of good things to come.

“If we build like we can, we have a chance to make a run in the next couple of years,” Eason said.

Eason was pleased with Central’s offensive production, especially on the ground.

“I thought we did a really good job of running the ball this year,” said Eason, whose team

averaged 209.1 rushing yards a game and 132.0 passing yards.

The Eagles had two players with over 1,000 yards of total offense and another just short of that

figure.

Senior Tray Wilson was one of them. He was selected to the South Carolina Football Coaches

Association AA All-State team as an athlete. Wilson was a danger both running and catching the football.

He had 62 carries for 545 yards and 16 touchdowns, while catching 38 passes for 598 yards and five more

scores. That’s 21 TDs and 1,143 total yards.

Ashten Wilson, a junior, led in rushing with 858 yards and seven touchdowns on 123 carries. He

caught 17 passes for 167 yards to finish with 1,025 yards. Junior Aiden Short rushed for 723 yards and

seven touchdowns on 121 carries and caught 13 passes for 258 yards and three more scores to finish with

981 yards of total offense.

The trio was joined on the All-Region team by junior quarterback Dwayne Louallen Jr.,

sophomore tight end Cody Branham, senior wide receiver Jeffrey Bines, sophomore center Brandon

Rollins, junior defensive back Sean Davis, junior defensive back Taveon Moore, senior defensive tackle

Kobe Davis, senior defensive end Dontavias Covington and junior linebacker MJ Allen.

Louallen completed 115 of 204 passes for 1,417 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 519

yards and six touchdowns on 105 carries. Bines had 23 catches for 302 yards and three touchdowns.

Branham had three catches for 42 yards and a TD while helping with blocking for the running game along

with Rollins.

Kobe Davis led the defense with 16 tackles for loss, six quarterback sacks, five fumble recoveries

and three caused fumbles to go with 54 tackles. Covington had 65 tackles, 15 ½ TFLs, four sacks and one

interception. Allen led in tackles with 80 to go with three TFLs, one sack and one interception.

Moore had seven interceptions and 18 tackles, and Sean Davis had 41 tackles, four TFLs, two

sacks and one interception.

Senior left guard Malik Gaskins, senior defensive tackle Jaden Hillian and senior middle

linebacker Caleb Blakeney were honorable mention selections.

The only seniors being lost on offense are Gaskins, Bines and Tray Wilson. Central will return

four starters on the offensive line in Rollins, sophomore Brandon Streater at left tackle, junior Jared

Melton at right tackle and junior Jordan Caldwell at right guard.