Vincent carried 29 times for 342 yards and four touchdowns –-- including three in the fourth quarter – as the Cyclones took a 30-16 victory over the Eagles at Gutheridge Field.
Central needed every one of those yards, too: Weyburn proved to be anything but an easy out, as they used a bruising running game of their own to take a 13-9 lead into the half.
That included an eight-minute drive through the first quarter that culminated in a three-yard touchdown run for Austin Knupp. The Weyburn running back would add a second touchdown with 9:58 to go in the second quarter, with Central’s only points coming off a 61-yard run immediately after Knupp’s second score and a safety with 37 seconds to go until halftime.
Things changed in the second half, though, and as Vincent explained, it was for good reason.
“We put our meat on the line and we pushed the ball, we weren’t really that successful against them passing and running wasn’t working with the standard offence, so we decided to put more pounds on the line,” Vincent said. “It was a real team effort, it was all about having all 12 guys doing a job and I was just the guy holding the ball. That’s what it comes down to, effort, and because it was there we were able to come back in the second half.”
And how.
Vincent would record 216 yards rushing in the second half alone, including touchdown runs of six, 25 and 29 yards in the fourth quarter to key the rally.
“To me it was 340 yards as a team, I wouldn’t have had a chance to do it without everyone else playing as well as they were in front of me,” Vincent said.
The turnaround was helped by the Cyclones largely cleaning up an ugly run of penalties and miscues that included a goalline interception late in the first half.
“It’s kind of the struggle we’ve had this year with our younger team, we’re going to have those mistakes,” Cyclones head coach Colin Belsher said. “We made a lot of them, and it seems like when we get rolling we find a way to make a mistake the other team capitalizes.
“But it’s a character builder and I thought the kids overcame those mistakes in the second half, dug deep and when you put the ball in one of your best player’s hands, you’re going to see good things happen. That front line was blocking really well during the fourth quarter and that gave him some room to run.”
Central finished with 376 yards of offence, 358 of it on the ground.
The Cyclones improved to 3-1, Weyburn fell to 2-2
Both teams are on the road on Thursday, Oct. 10 as Central travels to Estevan and Weyburn is in Yorkton.
