Central continues to roll along despite losing 25 seniors from last year
Eagles are 7-0 overall and 3-0 in region play after 42-8 wn over Lee Central Friday
Pageland – The Central High School football team graduated 25 seniors from a squad that went 11-2 last season and reached the AA lower state championship game. However, the loss of talent and sheer numbers has not hindered the Eagles in any way.
CHS is playing Class A this season after the South Carolina High School League reclassification. It is off to a 7-0 overall start and is 3-0 in Region 5 after a 42-8 win over Lee Central on October 9.
Central is ranked third in the High School Sports Report Class A Division I poll. Eagles head coach Jonathan Eason isn’t surprised by the success.
“I think the expectation at Central is always to win,” said Eason, who is in his third season as the head coach of his alma mater. “We replaced a lot of very talented players, but we had some guys behind them that were ready to step up.”
One position that didn’t need to be filled was quarterback. That’s where senior Dwayne Louallen Jr. is back for his fourth and final season as a starter.
“Offensively, it all starts with Dwayne Louallen,” Eason said. “He has done a great job as the leader of the team.”
Through the first five games, Louallen completed 35 of 58 passes for 474 yards and seven touchdowns against no interceptions. He was the second leading rusher with 453 yards and seven scores on 56 carries.
The leading rusher is senior Marjavious “Zee” Allen, who is a newcomer to the offense. He had 687 yards on 58 carries for a per-carry average of 11.2 yards per attempt to go with eight scores. Allen also had five receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
Allen had no carries or catches last season, starting exclusively at outside linebacker where he was a top defender.
“We have also had a huge year from Zee Allen so far,” Eason said. “He has probably been one of the best running backs in the state.”
Junior Jayden Robinson has rushed for 274 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries. Louallen had thrown scoring passes to five different receivers with each having at least four receptions. Leading the way were seniors Darin Gaines and Brandon Sowell with nine grabs each. Gaines had 107 yards and two scores, while Sowell had 97 yards and a touchdown.
CHS was averaging an even 43.0 points per game, and Eason credits a young offensive line for being a big part of the success.
“The biggest surprise has been the early success of our offensive line,” he said “We replaced four seniors on the OL, and the new guys have filled in and had a great year so far. Brandon Streater, Jacob Plyler, Rayson Funderburk, Cohen Phillips, Damir Baker, Braxton Richardson and Gabe Love had all really bought in to make our OL a solid unit this year.”
Defensively, Central was allowing 15 points a contest. Eason said he has an active group of defenders all over the field.
“Defensively, we have guys that fly around all over,” Eason said. “Jaylen Davis and Martel Ruben are two of the best sophomore linebackers in the state. Our defensive linemen and defensive backs fly around and make plays.
“(DL) Timmy Tyson, (free safety) Dylan Tomberlin, (DB) Aidan Welch and (DL) Tahir Wise have had really good years so far for us on defense.”
Tyson had 16 tackles, four tackles for a loss and one quarterback sack, Tomberlin had 14 tackles and one interception, Welch had 14 tackles, one TFL, one sack and one pick, and Wise had 24 tackles, one TFL and one sack.
Davis was leading in tackles with 33 to go with three TFLS and a sack, while Ruben had 18 tackles, two TFLs and a sack.
Eason believes the Eagles can continue to be successful if they play consistently.
“I think we just need to continue to get better at the little things every day, and we will be fine,” he said. “I tell the offense every week, if we don't have drive-killing penalties and turnovers, then we can score 40 points. We also tell the defense that as long as we're flying around and getting everyone to the ball that we can make a lot of plays.”
