PAGE P4
PIGSKIN PREVIEW AUGUST 2021
Pigskin Preview 2021
Central returns main pieces of highly dangerous offense Dayshawn Welch
MATT KING matt.king@lee.net
P
ARK HILLS – The Central football program capped a superb 2020 regular season with a hard-fought and exhilarating 17-14 victory over neighbor and Class 5 power Farmington. But strange circumstances amid a most unusual year statewide put the Rebels in an unenviable position despite holding the top seed and home-field advantage for the district playoffs. Cardinal Ritter began its season later than usual due to COVID-19 restrictions in St. Louis, and was placed in Class 3, District 2 weeks after team assignments were originally established. The loaded Lions were headlined by 5-star prospect Luther Burden, Jr., who since transferred across the river to East St. Louis, and routed the top-seeded Rebels in week 11. Ritter started 0-3 against premium opponents Helias Catholic, Jackson and Francis Howell – the first two won subsequent state titles – but soon surged into the Class 3 semifinals. “If not for an unfortunate incident by MSHSAA placing and seeding Cardinal Ritter where they were, we should have had another double-digit win season,” 18th-year Central head coach Kory Schweiss commented in a released statement. “Because Cardinal Ritter started playing really late because of COVID, their schedule was all but in shambles. They could only get three
Ruger Sutton
Jett Bridges
teams to agree to play them … Because they lost all three of those games, we had to play them in our first district game since we had accumulated enough points to be the No. 1 seed. Unfortunately, our season ended with that Ritter game, but we did finish with a really good season again.” Although the Rebels cannot yet be certain which ob-
stacles await in the upcoming postseason, they are poised to present a more serious threat in Class 3. Nine offensive starters return from a squad that finished 8-2 overall, and a full collective year of increased physical strength and experience should only prove beneficial. Dayshawn Welch leads
a senior class that features capable weapons all over the field. The running back first made his varsity breakthrough during district play as a freshman. He went on to break the single-season rushing record at Central over each of the next two seasons, totaling 1,859 yards and 22 touchdowns last fall in only
10 games. And while Welch produced nearly 10 yards per carry as an all-state performer for the second time, the Rebels still managed to distribute valuable touches among a plethora of teammates. Four starting receivers are back with sophomore Jobe Bryant joining seniors Grant Manion, Slade Schweiss and Ruger Sutton, who will also relieve Welch at times in the backfield. Bryant notched 576 yards
with seven touchdowns, and also showed the ability to occasionally pass on the run once handed the ball on a receiver sweep. Manion chipped in six scoring catches. That gives opposing defenders at least three potential throwing threats to ponder, since Central already has a proven leader at quarterback plus a rising sophomore challenger. Jett Bridges assumed the starting reins last season, picking up all-MAFC and
