Rich Central coach Terrell Alexander had a simple message for his players at halftime of Saturday’s game against Bloom: start playing for each other and not for yourselves.
The Olympians allowed leads of 14-0 and 28-14 dissolve into a 36-28 deficit during a wild first half.
Rich Central, however, adhered to that message in the second half. The Olympians outscored the Blazing Trojans’ 22-6 in the second half for a thrilling 50-42 win in Southland Conference play.
“We had those leads and we started playing for ourselves,” Rich Central running back Khaleeq Hammond said. “We were being a little selfish. Coach told us at the half to start playing for each other. That’s what we did.”
Hammond had a big part in the second-half turnaround. His 8-yard touchdown run with three seconds remaining in the third quarter tied the game 36-36. He added a 10-yard TD run with 10:25 left in the fourth to up the Olympian lead to 50-36.
Hammond’s second TD was preceded by a 24-yard fumble return for a score by Desmond Reeves that gave the Olympians (4-1, 2-0) a 43-36 advantage.
It was Reeves’ second fumble return for a TD. He scooped up an earlier fumble at the Bloom 5 and ran it into the end zone. That score gave the Olympians a 14-0 lead at 9:58 of the first quarter.
“I might have a fumble return back in pee-wees, but nothing that I can remember,” said Reeves, a senior. “The second fumble return got us back on track.”
Trailing 20-7 after one quarter, Bloom (1-4, 0-1) scored 29 points in the second quarter to take an eight-point lead at intermission.
Quarterback Cornell Washington scored on TD runs of 19, 2 and 6 yards in the second quarter and George Jimerson (7 carries, 129 yards) supplied a 78-yard TD run with 26 seconds remaining in the half. Not only did the Blazing Trojans hold a 36-28 lead, they had the momentum.
“Cornell stepped up,” Bloom coach Tony Palombi said. “George is a player. He refuses to lose. The kids really thought they should have won this game. We would have like to have kept playing and not stopped at the half.”
The Blazing Trojans turned the ball over five times, including twice in the third quarter. Alexander finished with 114 yards rushing and 49 yards passing. Jimerson added an 87-yard kickoff return for a TD in the fourth quarter that helped Bloom close within 50-42 with 10:12 to go.
Bloom drove to the Rich Central 8 with less than a minute to play, but Derrick Maxwell intercepted Alexander.
Rich Central quarterback Jyran Mitchell completed 9 of 18 passes for 91 yards. He hooked up with Hammond on a 35-yard TD pass and with Deshawn Jones on an 8-yard scoring strike that made it 20-7. Jones added a 2-yard TD run in the second quarter.
“The thing with your players is that leads don’t mean the ball game is over,” Alexander said. “We played better in the second half. I tip my hat to Bloom. They kept coming at us.”
Twitter: @disabato
