Crowley, La. - The Centenary football team is set to face the John Melvin University Millers on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at Gardner Memorial Stadium.
The Gents (4-0) are coming off of an impressive 47-0 shutout win of North American University on Monday night in Houston. Centenary and John Melvin (2-3) will be meeting for the second time this season after the Gents recorded a 57-0 victory on Sept. 16 in Shreveport.
The Millers have lost three games in a row and have not won since a 41-0 victory over Louisiana Community Christian in August. John Melvin was credited with a 2-0 victory over Georgia Community Christian College last month due to forfeit. The Millers have lost to the Gents, Florida Memorial University (78-0), and Central Georgia tech College (65-0).
"One of the greatest challenges in football is to try to beat a team twice in one season," said Centenary head coach Byron Dawson.
"John Melvin is a well-coached team with a lot of speed. We must play at a high level for 60 minutes to win on the road Saturday afternoon. We need a big game from our offensive line and our defensive front. We are excited about playing our second game this week and focusing on the process of mastering the fundamentals and playing as a team."
Centenary has been explosive on offense all season, outscoring the opposition 217-33 and the Gents' stingy defense has now allowed a point in the last eight quarters of action. The Gents' other two wins are a 79-6 victory at home against Louisiana Community Christian on Sept. 9 and a 34-27 victory over the Mary Hardin-Baylor JV squad on Sept. 4 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Gents took a 23-0 lead at halftime on Monday against North American and added 24 second-half points to cruise to the victory, holding the Stallions to a mere 16 yard of total offense on 48 plays (0.3 yards per play). The Maroon and White rolled up 311 yards of total offense on 67 plays for an average of 4.6/play.
Centenary had a balanced offensive attack, finishing with 188 yards on the ground and 123 through the air. The Gents went 4 of 12 on third downs and converted ¾ attempts on fourth down for 75 % while holding the Stallions to 2-12 on third down (17 %). Centenary's defense registered five sacks for 43 yards, had 10 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, and a pair of interceptions.
Individual Statistical Leaders (Offense):
Passing
Freshman QB Jalen Robinson (Amite, La.) – 10/20 for 123 yards and 2 TD
Rushing:
Sophomore RB Josh Ware (Shreveport, La.) – 18 attempts for 90 yards
Receiving:
Ware – 3 catches for 39 yards and one TD
Kicking:
Freshman K Russell Skipper Jr. (North Richland Hills, Texas) – 6/6 on XP and 1/2 on FG's with long of 27
Punting:
Skipper Jr. – 2 punts for 81 yards, long of 42, average: 40.5; 1 touchback, 1 inside 20
Robinson also ran for a pair of touchdowns and freshman RB Rubin Seastrunk (Alexandria, La.) ran for one and rushed the ball twice for 21 yards including a 19-yard run. Ware had the Gents' longest run of the night at 32 yards and averaged five yards per carry on his 18 attempts. Freshman RB Daylen Robinson (Minden, La.) rushed 11 times for 71 yards, sophomore WR Trent Smith (Shreveport, La.) carried one for 11 yards, and freshman WR Devin Ardoin (Mamou, La.) had one carry for five yards.
Freshman WR Jay Richardson (Baton Rouge, La.) and Ware each caught TD passes from Robinson, Ardoin had a pair of catches for 32 yards, freshman TE Isaiah King (Weatherford, Texas) had three catches for 28 yards, and senior WR Braeden Board (Rayne, La.) had one reception for 12 yards.
Defensively, freshman DL D'Qavion Lemons (Shreveport, La.) had a team-best seven tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss with one sack and a pass breakup. Sophomore DL Zyon Lilly (Shreveport, La.) had six tackles, a TFL and a sack. Freshman DB Chris Davis (Harrisville, Miss.) had two interceptions, three tackles, and one TFL.
Freshman Ray Mayweather (Mansfield, La.) had three tackles, a TFL, and a fumble recovery which he returned 62 yards for a TD to make it 33-0 late in the third quarter. Freshman LB Jamil Cloman (Monroe, La.) had five tackles and a TFL and sophomore LB Marlon Young (Shreveport, La.) finished with four tackles.
Robinson scored the Gents' first TD on a 1-yard run with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter and his 10-yard TD pass to Ware made it 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter. Less than a minute later, the Gents' defense recorded a safety to make it 16-0 and Robinson found the end zone for a two-yard run with just five seconds left in the first half for a 23-0 Gents' advantage.
Skipper Jr. connected from 27 yards to make it 26-0 at the 11:02 mark of the third quarter and Mayweather's defensive scoop and score made it 33-0 and was one of three Centenary TD's in the second half. Richardson's TD reception from Robinson came at the 4:23 mark of the third period, and Seastrunk's short run capped the scoring with 1:14 remaining in the game.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
LIVE VIDEO LINK: https://fan.hudl.com/US/LA/Crowley/organization/175937/John-Melvin-University/watch?b=QnJvYWRjYXN0NjQ4MTI1
*PLEASE NOTE: The live video stream is not FREE, it costs $6.
Concessions are CASH ONLY!
Admission prices are $15 for adults and $10 for children. Tickets can be purchased online at millers-athletics.com
Stadium address: 401 W Northern Ave., Crowley, LA 70526 (Crowley High School)
Centenary will next be in action on Wednesday, Oct. 18 against TWA College at home. The contest was originally scheduled to be played at Evangel Christian Academy but will now be played on campus at Mayo Field and will kick off at 6 p.m.
See Centenary's complete schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/fball/2023-24/schedule
All dates and times are subject to change.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
