Central tops Northeast in Public AAAA playoffs

When a kid is a junior in high school and says his last touchdown was scored at age 11, you are thinking 5 years ago. Maybe even 6.

And then there's Joseph Shepherd Jr., of Central's rejuvenated, still-rejoicing football squad.

"I'm only 15," he said. "I'll be 16 in December."

He then paused and added, sheepishly, "I skipped a grade."

Hey, it happens. You should be proud of it, young man. You also might want to take a few bows for the heroic feat you pulled off yesterday in the first round of the Public League AAAA playoffs.

Lancers don't come in flocks, of course, but No. 81 certainly Shepherded them to victory.

With 3 minutes, 9 seconds remaining, he snapped a 20-20 tie by returning a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown. Well, that's how the touchdown would be described in a box score. It was actually a 20-yard, stolen-ball return.

The visitor was Northeast, Central's forever Thanksgiving rival and the defending AAAA kingpin, and the final score wound up being 28-20 . . . after Richard "Tre" Drayton caught the conversion pass . . . after Hakeem Ellis recovered Ryan Dydak's unintentional onside kick . . . after Northeast got one last chance and David Oliphant pounced upon a fumble.

Central had a tremendous turnout, especially of students, to view the school's first win over Northeast since Thanksgiving 2004 - 0-9 in the interim, two meetings apiece in 2007 and '08, outscored by 251-94 - and there was no containing the joy as the final whistle sounded.

Coach Rich Drayton, Tre's dad and star receiver for the 1985 Public League champs, led the Lancers in an old-school chant ("Central, mambo! . . . Ole! Ole!") and soon the players were running here, there and everywhere to scream and interact with classmates, friends and family.

Shepherd, for one, made a dash to the restraining fence, where he giddily allowed himself to be pummeled.

"That was so much fun!" he said, laughing. "Didn't hurt at all."

The 5-10, 180-pound Shepherd plays outside linebacker, and his thievery terminated an 8-yard run by Marquis Edwards. Fittingly, he scored in the field's northeast corner.

"My focus was to get the ball back for my team, no matter what the cost," Shepherd said. "To get that ball and score, it was just exhilarating.

"I'd forced fumbles, but I'd never really recovered any. That one, I just yanked the ball out. I actually thought about doing that as I approached him. The opportunity was there. As I was running, I looked back to see if I'd get caught. Never did."

Drayton, the coach, said Shepherd is valuable to the Lancers beyond game day.

"He gives our o-linemen fits, because he's so tough to block. He makes them better," coach Drayton said. "In the games, he's always getting strips and sacks."

This clash featured an interesting subplot: Approximately a dozen Northeast seniors missed the first half for violating a team rule.

Coach Chris Riley said the players "caught the senior flu." Others associated with the program said they were protesting a decision made by Riley. In the first half, after listening to a mom yell again and again from the stands, "We want the seniors!" Riley muttered, "So do I. They chose their fate."

"We were hearing about what was going on with them," Shepherd said. "Lots of stories. We knew the second half would definitely be a challenge. We kept our heads high."

Central stormed to the first 20 points as Dydak (9-for-16, 199 yards) threw scoring passes of 25 and 40 yards to Drayton (5-101) and 38 to Walter Pegues.

"I couldn't believe they were covering No. 83 [his son] one on one," coach Drayton said. "That boggled my mind."

Through the first 20 minutes, Northeast owned minus-6 yards total offense. By halftime, however, the Vikings trimmed the deficit to 20-12, thanks to bombs of 48 and 50 yards from Harold Alexander to Devon Dillard.

Favoring the ground, 11 plays to four, the Vikings opened the third quarter with a 65-yard drive that was capped by Edwards' 3-yard run. With a lead block from fullback Michael Brown, tremendous all game at linebacker, Edwards added the conversion run.

Shepherd, when pressed, acknowledged that last year he earned a 3.7 GPA. Later, he mentioned that he lives on the 4000 block of Parkside Avenue.

"Right by the zoo," he added, laughing.

IN OTHER PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS:

In a AAAA first-rounder, Germantown topped Lincoln, 32-27, on Cedric Wright's 15-yard TD pass to Myles Brooker with 2:56 remaining. Wright finished 7-for-11 for 151 yards and one score apiece to Will Parks (5-121) and Brooker (2-30) while Ackeno Robertson scored twice (rush, 80-yard kickoff return). Aaron "Snook" Boyd added 156 yards and one score on 18 rushes. Devon Smith posted a pick. Marquise "Marty" McFarland (15-106) ran for two Lincoln scores while Miguel Sanchez passed for one TD and ran for another . . . In a AA semi, Bok thumped Prep Charter, 32-0, as Shaquil Sammons turned 16 carries into 208 yards and three TDs. Omar Bashir, Taj Cannady-Jewlett and Olutoby Lediju made interceptions and Mark Webb tallied on a 15-yard fumble return. PC's Anthony Wyche ran 10 times for 50 yards.

IN CATHOLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS:

La Salle stormed back from a 17-0 deficit to bump off St. Joseph's Prep, 28-17, and claim the Catholic AAAA regular season title. Matt Magarity ran for 86 yards and passed 12-for-23 for 188 yards and one score apiece to Sean Coleman (3-72) and Casey Eidenshink. Coleman and Ryan Otis had interceptions. For Prep, Skyler Mornhinweg generated 234 yards of rushing/passing . . . As Judge rocked Ryan, 42-14, in Catholic AAAA, Raul Quinones (19-210, five TDs) and Matt Smalley (20-111, one) were dominant.

IN OTHER GAMES

Gratz bested Bartram, 14-0, in nonleague play as Fulani Freeman scored on a fumble return and rush and numbered four sacks (two full, two partials) worth 17 yards among 10 tackles. Bartram's Rondell Calloway had two interceptions . . . In another nonleaguer, Daquan "Day-Day" Brown (20-139, two) and Jameel Davis (7-123) combined for three rushing TDs as Dobbins peppered Olney, 52-12. Also, Mike Jones recovered a deep, unreturned kickoff for a touchdown. Kevin Norris added two picks . . . Erik Lark passed 7-for-11 for 116 yards and two TDs apiece to Tahir Perlote (4-63) and Mike Hammock (2-47) as Boys' Latin eclipsed Edison, 28-8, in nonleague action. Ben Coulibaly added 123 yards on 14 carries. Marcos Mercado scored the Owls' TD.