Tigers Find Tough Sledding in Shelton
Sep. 18—Every time Centralia threatened, disaster struck, including six fumbles, as the Tigers were handed a 33-6 loss on the road to Shelton Friday.
Centralia's bad luck was epitomized in an 80-yard drive where the Tigers were in position to tie the game early but instead coughed up a fumble and lost it inside the 5-yard line.
"If we punch it in and tie it up, our kids are confident," Centralia coach Jeremy Thibault said. "We had guys in the right spots, we just didn't make plays. Shelton was physical and their run game was impressive. We knew their D-line was going to give us problems and they did."
Gabe Seymour was the lone bright spot on offense, rushing 21 times for 143 yards. But outside of that, the Tigers couldn't generate offense, completing zero passes on the night.
"Gabe Seymour ran well," Thibault said.
Shelton racked up 22 first downs to Centralia's 10 and the Highclimbers outgained the Tigers 388-172 in total yards. Shelton finished with 182 passing yards and three scores through the air.
The Tigers are finally up to 43 kids eligible to play, up from the 20 or so that suited up for their season opener. Star tailback and free safety Chase Sobolesky could return in two weeks after being ineligible to start the season and would provide an explosive boost. He's been terrorizing his teammates while playing for the scout team in practice, Thibault said.
"He's a dynamic gamechanger on both sides of the ball," Thibault said.
Centralia (0-3) will look to nab its first win of the season when it hosts Black Hills (0-3) on Friday.
