Central pushes around Dallas Madison

LANCASTER, Texas -- Little Rock Central's defense forced three turnovers in a 38-0 shutout of Dallas James Madison at Beverly D. Humphrey Stadium in Lancaster, Texas.

The Tigers recovered two fumbles, and Shumecio Ford intercepted a pass.

"The defense was the difference in the game today," Central Coach Ellis "Scooter" Register said in a telephone interview.

Senior quarterback Cooper Westbrook threw three touchdown passes. Westbrook threw scoring passes for 5 yards to Richard Hayes, 18 to Tom Coulter and 25 to Peyton Stevens.

"I thought he threw the ball really well," said Register of Westbrook. "I thought the receivers caught the ball well today. He spread it around a little bit."

Hayes added a 2-yard run late in the first half in which the Tigers rolled up 222 yards offensively.

Wesley Wahls made a 30-yard field goal early in the second half.

Little Rock Central won its first playoff game since 2004 last fall, beating Fayetteville. Now, the Tigers have a victory over a Texas team to celebrate, which pleased Register.

"It has to give us some confidence," Register said. "Beating Fayetteville in the playoffs was a lift for us. It got us through the offseason.

"We've been gearing up for this game for a month."

The Tigers were in Texas for two days and toured AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, on Sunday.

Being away from Little Rock for extended period could have been a concern for some teams, but not Register's team.

"I'm proud of our kids," Register said. "We've been gone for two days. They got to see some things. It was a fun and educational trip as well as coming down here to play a ballgame."

Central hosts Fort Smith Southside on Sept. 12.

Sports on 09/02/2014

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