Central wins 15th straight over Harding
Chris Elsberry
Thursday, November 28, 2013
BRIDGEPORT -- The streak continues.
Sparked by the rushing and the passing of junior quarterback Mykel Morris, Central ended a 10-
game, season-long losing streak by defeating city rival Harding 28-20 for its 15th consecutive win
over the Presidents in a series that dates back to 1926 before an estimated crowd of 1,650 at
Kennedy Stadium.
This was the 92nd game between the two schools. Harding still leads the overall series 50-38-4.
"This is the big game," said Morris, who rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown and passed for 103
yards and two touchdowns to win the John E. Johansen Award as the game's Most Valuable Player.
"This year, we came in as underdogs. A lot of people thought Harding was going to win because they
had a couple of wins but we stuck it out. It's a tradition here. We will not lose to Harding."
"I've said it every week, he's our warrior," Central coach Brian Gordon said of Morris.
"His improvement this season has been nothing but a complete surprise. We're so pleased with
where's he at and he's only going to get better next year. We're thrilled he's coming back. Mykel
was great."
Despite having its worst season since 1994 (1-8-1), Central has held the city-wide bragging rights in
this rivalry since 1998, the last time Harding tasted victory. How emotional was this game between
these two schools?
Several Presidents players cried unashamedly on the field afterwards and had to be consoled by the
coaching staff, and when the Harding bus pulled away from the field, many of the Central players
waited outside their locker room to yell at the Presidents.
"This is such an important game for both sides. I can't tell you how much it means for these guys,"
said Gordon, who received a Gatorade bath from his players at the final horn to celebrate the win.
"These games always seem to come down to this. You can never, ever take your eye off the prize.
They always end up tight."
Indeed. Harding, a program that since 2004 had been just 9-81, has started to make strides to get
back to the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s, when they won 16 of the 20 games between 1969-89.
The Presidents finished the season at 3-8, the most wins since 2003 (4-7) and for coach Eddie
Santiago -- who will be the full-time coach in 2014 after Jack Cochran was officially terminated by
the Bridgeport Board of Education on Monday -- is looking to build off this season.
"We're still going through some growing pains but the guys had a great season," Santiago said.
"We're going to build off of this. We start preparing for next season on Monday and try to produce
some more Ws for next year."
Midway through the second quarter Harding held a 12-6 lead thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by
Christian Hopkins and a 68-yard scoring pass from Hopkins to Antoine Sistrunk, offset by a 20-yard
touchdown by Morris.
But then Morris and Dominique Hancock hooked up for touchdown passes of five and 33 yards,
giving the Hilltoppers a 20-12 halftime lead.
A 10-yard scoring run by Hancock and a safety pushed the Central lead to 28-12 heading into the
fourth quarter, but Harding answered with a 2-yard run by Sistrunk and a two-point conversion pass
to cut the gap to 28-20 with 2:45 to play.
Three times the Presidents had chances to tie the game after they intercepted Morris in the fourth
quarter. The first pick was by Kanard Codrington, who returned the ball to the Central 22, but the
Hilltoppers defense forced and recovered a fumble.
Then, Tyquan Eddy picked Morris' pocket and returned the ball to the Central 10 -- but he lost a
fumble and the Hilltoppers recovered.
Finally, Hopkins intercepted Morris and brought the ball down to the Central 6 but the Hilltoppers
stood tall and stopped the Presidents on downs.
"That's what we build on, we build on defense," Morris said.
"On offense, we've got explosive players, we know we can score, so we really work hard on defense in
practice all week. Offense isn't a problem at all, but on defense, we go over formations, watching film
every day after practice. We worked hard for this."
In the second half, Central's defense surrendered just 66 yards rushing and 12 yards passing after
allowing 228 yards of total offense in the first two quarters.
"Our defense has taken some heat. We've been on them but they answered the bell today, there's no
question," Gordon said.
"I'm very proud of the effort."
HARDING 6 6 0 8--20
CENTRAL 0 20 8 0--28
H--Christian Hopkins, 1 run (kick blocked)
C--Mykel Morris, 20 run (run failed)
H--Antoine Sistrunk, 68 pass Hopkins (pass failed)11/29/13 Central wins 15thstraight over Harding - Connecticut Post
www.ctpost.com/highschool/article/Central-wins-15th-straight-over-Harding-5019559.php 3/3
C--Dominique Hancock, 5 pass Morris (Morris run)
C--Hancock, 33 pass Morris (run failed)
C--Hancock, 10 run (pass failed)
C--Safety (ball snapped out of end zone)
H--Sistrunk, 3 run (Hopkins pass T.J. Killings)
Records: Central 1-10, Harding 3-8
Chris Elsberry
Thursday, November 28, 2013
BRIDGEPORT -- The streak continues.
Sparked by the rushing and the passing of junior quarterback Mykel Morris, Central ended a 10-
game, season-long losing streak by defeating city rival Harding 28-20 for its 15th consecutive win
over the Presidents in a series that dates back to 1926 before an estimated crowd of 1,650 at
Kennedy Stadium.
This was the 92nd game between the two schools. Harding still leads the overall series 50-38-4.
"This is the big game," said Morris, who rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown and passed for 103
yards and two touchdowns to win the John E. Johansen Award as the game's Most Valuable Player.
"This year, we came in as underdogs. A lot of people thought Harding was going to win because they
had a couple of wins but we stuck it out. It's a tradition here. We will not lose to Harding."
"I've said it every week, he's our warrior," Central coach Brian Gordon said of Morris.
"His improvement this season has been nothing but a complete surprise. We're so pleased with
where's he at and he's only going to get better next year. We're thrilled he's coming back. Mykel
was great."
Despite having its worst season since 1994 (1-8-1), Central has held the city-wide bragging rights in
this rivalry since 1998, the last time Harding tasted victory. How emotional was this game between
these two schools?
Several Presidents players cried unashamedly on the field afterwards and had to be consoled by the
coaching staff, and when the Harding bus pulled away from the field, many of the Central players
waited outside their locker room to yell at the Presidents.
"This is such an important game for both sides. I can't tell you how much it means for these guys,"
said Gordon, who received a Gatorade bath from his players at the final horn to celebrate the win.
"These games always seem to come down to this. You can never, ever take your eye off the prize.
They always end up tight."
Indeed. Harding, a program that since 2004 had been just 9-81, has started to make strides to get
back to the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s, when they won 16 of the 20 games between 1969-89.
The Presidents finished the season at 3-8, the most wins since 2003 (4-7) and for coach Eddie
Santiago -- who will be the full-time coach in 2014 after Jack Cochran was officially terminated by
the Bridgeport Board of Education on Monday -- is looking to build off this season.
"We're still going through some growing pains but the guys had a great season," Santiago said.
"We're going to build off of this. We start preparing for next season on Monday and try to produce
some more Ws for next year."
Midway through the second quarter Harding held a 12-6 lead thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by
Christian Hopkins and a 68-yard scoring pass from Hopkins to Antoine Sistrunk, offset by a 20-yard
touchdown by Morris.
But then Morris and Dominique Hancock hooked up for touchdown passes of five and 33 yards,
giving the Hilltoppers a 20-12 halftime lead.
A 10-yard scoring run by Hancock and a safety pushed the Central lead to 28-12 heading into the
fourth quarter, but Harding answered with a 2-yard run by Sistrunk and a two-point conversion pass
to cut the gap to 28-20 with 2:45 to play.
Three times the Presidents had chances to tie the game after they intercepted Morris in the fourth
quarter. The first pick was by Kanard Codrington, who returned the ball to the Central 22, but the
Hilltoppers defense forced and recovered a fumble.
Then, Tyquan Eddy picked Morris' pocket and returned the ball to the Central 10 -- but he lost a
fumble and the Hilltoppers recovered.
Finally, Hopkins intercepted Morris and brought the ball down to the Central 6 but the Hilltoppers
stood tall and stopped the Presidents on downs.
"That's what we build on, we build on defense," Morris said.
"On offense, we've got explosive players, we know we can score, so we really work hard on defense in
practice all week. Offense isn't a problem at all, but on defense, we go over formations, watching film
every day after practice. We worked hard for this."
In the second half, Central's defense surrendered just 66 yards rushing and 12 yards passing after
allowing 228 yards of total offense in the first two quarters.
"Our defense has taken some heat. We've been on them but they answered the bell today, there's no
question," Gordon said.
"I'm very proud of the effort."
HARDING 6 6 0 8--20
CENTRAL 0 20 8 0--28
H--Christian Hopkins, 1 run (kick blocked)
C--Mykel Morris, 20 run (run failed)
H--Antoine Sistrunk, 68 pass Hopkins (pass failed)11/29/13 Central wins 15thstraight over Harding - Connecticut Post
www.ctpost.com/highschool/article/Central-wins-15th-straight-over-Harding-5019559.php 3/3
C--Dominique Hancock, 5 pass Morris (Morris run)
C--Hancock, 33 pass Morris (run failed)
C--Hancock, 10 run (pass failed)
C--Safety (ball snapped out of end zone)
H--Sistrunk, 3 run (Hopkins pass T.J. Killings)
Records: Central 1-10, Harding 3-8
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