Published: September 06, 2008 01:05 am      

Simpson’s four TDs help Madison Central blast Southern, 57-0

RICHMOND — Madison Central’s offense didn’t get much of a chance to showcase its firepower in last week’s season-opening win over Mercer County.

So, the Indians made up for lost time Friday against cross-county rival Madison Southern.

Central (2-0) scored seven touchdowns in the first half and got four TDs from standout senior Keshawn Simpson on the way to a 57-0 thrashing of the Eagles (0-2). The Indians racked up 284 yards of offense in just the first half and forced four turnovers in a second-straight lopsided victory.

“We still have some things we need to work on,” Central coach Kenny Turner said of his team’s offense. “They did a good job blitzing up the middle. You just have to adjust. I tried some things, but I know what I have to do. We still have a lot of things to work on.”

Central’s offense didn’t look sharp in the opener, mostly because Mercer County controlled the ball for most of the game. The Indians had just 226 total yards, but the Titans dominated time of possession — 32:28 to 15:32.

Amazingly enough, Cen-tral had the ball for just 14:30 against the Eagles. And that was more than enough for its high-powered offense to put up big numbers.

The Indians scored quickly and frequently.

Central found the end zone on the first play of a drive three times, once on the second play of a drive and twice on the third play of a drive.

“Any time we wanted to score we could,” Central quarterback Zac Coldiron said. “We had the plays. The blocking was there. It was good.”

Simpson got the scoring under way with an 8-yard run mid-way through the first. Isaiah Kavanaugh added a 3-yard run with 3:03 left in the quarter.

Simpson added two more scores in the second quarter (18-yard run and 35-yard run) as the Indians scored 30 points and went into halftime with a 44-0 lead. Shane King added a 20-yard run, Tyler Mays had a 44-yard TD reception and Taylor Deaton added a field goal before the half.

“We are always going to be ready to go out and play,” Kavanaugh said. “We are not going to take any team lightly. We don’t care what their record is, we are going to come our ready to play.”

Southern opened the season with a 52-0 loss at home to Anderson County and, after losing starting quarterback Chris Coccari to an ankle injury in the first quarter, was never able to get anything going on offense.

The Eagles finished with 50 total yards on 48 plays as Central posted a second-straight shutout.

“The defense is setting the tone,” Turner said. “And that’s good.”

Simpson had a game-high 111 yards rushing, while Kavanaugh added 79 yards. Coldiron completed four-of-eight passes for 69 and Mays had two receptions for 51 yards.

Simpson added a 3-yard run in the third (and also had an interception) and freshman Dre Goggins scored on a 21-yard pass from John Moncrief in the fourth quarter.

Rico Brown led Southern with 46 yards rushing, 30 yards receiving and eight tackles.

“I take my hat off to them because they play hard,” Turner said.

Central is set to return to action Friday at Oldham County. Southern will take on district rival Rockcastle County Friday at home.