Career highlight: Central’s Jake Jarreau has the first pick-six in Wildcats’ 24-6 win over Woodlawn – GeauxPreps

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Staff

They are becoming increasingly popular on the sidelines to reward game-changing plays by defensive players.

Enter the “turnover chain,” which was first introduced by the University of Miami and has since spread into the high school ranks, where it has become increasingly common.

The beauty of seeing Central junior linebacker Jake Jarreau with his first such emblem after Friday’s 24-6 win over Woodlawn was that his contribution to the team’s success came midway through the third quarter.

Jarreau stepped in front of a pass from Woodlawn Ahmad Price and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to make it a 17-0 second-half performance and help the Wildcats (6-0) take their first step into District 4 -5A race a successful race.

The moment’s significance was heightened by the fact that it was Jarreau’s first career interception, befitting the “chain of turnovers” and a warm smile afterward.

“I’ve never had a choice … ever,” said Jarreau, the team’s middle linebacker. “My eyes were big. I knew I was going to get to that end zone no matter what it took.”

Jarreau was part of another outstanding defensive performance as Central limited its fourth opponent to a touchdown or less. The Wildcats allowed Cayden Randall a 61-yard touchdown run on a fourth-down snap in the second quarter, but held the Panthers (2-4, 0-1) to 104 rushing yards and 135 total yards.

Senior defensive lineman DK Mays, a Houston commit, had two of the team’s three sacks and Woodlawn recorded 12 tackles for loss in the game.

“We’ve been preparing all week and have a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball,” Jarreau said. “Every play we go after the quarterback. That’s our job, to take him out of the game.”

The game remained scoreless until Randall scored a long-range touchdown 3:36 minutes before halftime. The son of former Woodlawn coach and LSU quarterback Marcus Randall tied the score with a strip-and-fumble recovery.

“He’s a guy we can rely on a lot,” Woodlawn coach Scott Pellegrin said of Randall. “He’s able to get into wildcat situations and get some snaps in short yardage. He always tries hard on special teams and especially on defense. He noticed they were carrying the ball a little soft there and he saw an opportunity for a strip. That’s the type of player he is. He really enjoys the game.”

Central responded on its second-to-last possession of the half, driving 56 yards on Blaysen Stoken’s 35-yard kickoff return. Quarterback Jackson Firmin (10 of 20 for 93 yards) completed two of three passes for consecutive first downs and, on second and fourth, rolled a bootleg to the right and connected with tight end Jaydon Garnett.

Garnett, who rushed for a team-high 40 yards on eight carries in the second half, spun up and was hit by a hard hit at the goal line. He absorbed the hit and continued into the end zone for a 19-yard score, and Nathan Zimmer added the extra point with 1:45 left before halftime.

“I was really proud of the run that Jaydon Garnet made to score the first touchdown,” Central coach David Simoneaux said. “It was a physical run and we want to live it to the fullest.”

Tyrann Williams and Keithon Womack led the Wildcats with three catches each for 25 and 30 yards, respectively.

Woodlawn’s defense remained strong in the first half and behind the play of senior defensive end Chase Walker there were five tackles for loss and two sacks from Firmin. Running back Jay’Cob Jolla led the offense with 22 carries for 62 yards.

“That’s what you expect when you play against a great team,” Pellegrin said. “They are undefeated for a reason. They hold the boys. They play fantastic defense. We just have to do better. We have to go back to the drawing board with our guys and play better. We didn’t think we couldn’t compete. We have to make sure we execute everything because when you play against good teams you can’t make mistakes.”

Woodlawn picked up two first downs on its first series of the third quarter when a high snap over Price’s head resulted in an 18-yard loss that wiped out the possession and left the Panthers facing a second-and-28.

Jarreau dropped back into coverage and immediately jumped on the route Price had in mind and made it untouched into the end zone for a 14-6 lead.

“We were in man-to-man coverage and my man went out,” Jarreau said. “I read the No. 1 receiver and when I looked back I saw the quarterback open his arms. I broke the pass and when I caught it, it was end zone.”

Return specialist Steven Ranel made up for an earlier fumble with consecutive punt returns of 31 and 32 yards, paving the way for 10 points and helping Central score the final 24 points of the game. He returned four punts for an average of 24.7 yards.

“It was more about staying the course,” Simoneaux said of his team’s second-half performance. “I liked the way we played and I thought we could keep it up longer than them. I was proud of how our competition increased in the second half and how we were able to finish it off.”

Firmin capped a 35-yard drive with a 3-yard score on second-and-goal with 1:57 left in the third quarter, and Zimmer, who had four touchbacks and a punt at the 3, made it 23- Yard field goal with 2:50 remaining.

“We feed off each other’s energy,” Jarreau said. “After this big game, our team was just excited and we just wanted to finish.”

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Central 24, Woodlawn 6

Points by quarters

Forest lawn 0 6 0 0- 6

Central 0 7 14 3 – 24

Summary of the rating

WHS – Cayden Randall 61 Run (Kick Blocked)

CHS – Jaydon Garnett 19 pass from Jackson Firmin (Nathan Zimmer kick)

CHS – Jake Jarreau 22 Interception Return (Zimmer Kick)

CHS – Firmin 3-run (room kick)

WHS CHS

First downs 9 13

Rushes yards 38-104 28-106

Passing yards 32 93

ACI 5-16-1 10-20-0

Punts Avg 6-44 5-32.8

Fumbles – 2-0, 2-2 lost

Penalties – Yards 6-48 7-60