SYLVESTER — The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets traveled to Sylvester to open the 2017 football season against the always tough Worth County Rams hoping to see some improvement from their scrimmage loss to Wayne County one week ago.

Given the fact Central defeated the Rams 30-13 led by some spectacular plays from senior Tay Cooksey, it’s safe to consider the mission accomplished.

“We wanted to get a little better from our performance against Wayne County, and I think we did that,” Central head coach Bill Shaver said after the victory. “Cooksey didn’t touch the ball last week, and we had to figure out how to get the ball to him. He’s a difference maker.”

In fact, after Worth County punted on their opening possession, Central wasted no time in getting the ball to No. 22. On their first offensive play from the Central 32-yard-line, quarterback Dre Sullivan threw a flare pass out to Cooksey, who took the ball and in and went 68 yards for a touchdown. With Huntley Rodgers PAT, the Yellow Jackets led 7-0.

The Central defense kept the Worth offense in check throughout most of the night. With a new coaching staff in place, Worth’s program is implementing a new spread-type offense after running the wing-T for many years. The Yellow Jacket defense, led by senior defensive tackle Martavous McCray, did a good job keeping the Rams under wraps.

Leading 7-0, the Central offense became it’s own worst enemy midway through the second quarter. Moving the football well against the Worth defense near midfield, the Yellow Jackets fumbled the ball, and the Worth defensive front was the only players with a chance to recover the miscue. A Worth defensive end scooped the ball and ran untouched 50-yards for the score. And with the PAT, the game was tied 7-7.

The Yellow Jacket offense responded positively. Led by Sullivan, Central’s next offensive drive started deep in Central territory. Ahmad Hobbs had a 40-yard run and another for 25-yards to get the Yellow Jackets down the field to the Worth County 1-yard line, where Sullivan took a quarterback sneak in for the Central score. Rodgers PAT moved the TCCHS lead to 14-7.

Central’s defense forced a Worth punt from deep in Ram territory that only made it out to the 30 yard line. Deshawn Lewis ran the ball down the Rams throat on two successive plays, one a 21 yard jaunt, followed by a nine yard touchdown scamper. The PAT snap was bobbled, and Central led 20-7 going into the half.

After trading punts to start the third quarter, Central fumbled again, recovered by Worth. However, Cooksey would make his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball, intercepting a Ram pass to give the ball back to the Yellow Jacket offense. Central would eventually punt the ball back to Worth, who threw a screen pass that went for a 25-yard touchdown. Freshman defensive back Tykeem Wallace blocked the PAT, but the Yellow Jacket lead was cut to 20-13.

On Central’s ensuing drive, the Yellow Jackets would again hit paydirt. Starting at their own 29 yard line, the Yellow Jackets were helped by some Worth penalties in putting together a nine-play drive capped off with Sullivan’s 15-yard touchdown run. With Rodgers PAT, the Central lead was again extended to 27-13.

Both offenses struggled until Central running back Darian Daniels took a handoff from freshman quarterback Kalik Guyton and burst through the Worth County defense for a sterling 60-yard run deep into Ram territory. The drive would bog down, but not before Rodgers would nail a 31-yard field goal with plenty of distance to end the night’s scoring with Central ahead 30-13, would would be the final score.

Hobbs would end the night with 101 rushing yards, and Cooksey piled up impressive yardage not only as a receiver but as a return man as well. Sullivan had 62 rushing yards with two TD’s on the night, and 70 passing yards with a score. Lewis ended the night with 29 rushing yards and a TD. Rodgers was 3 for 4 on PAT’s, with a field goal.

Central would have five fumbles, with two recovered by Worth. The Rams hurt their own cause with 17 penalties on the night, many of which were offside penalties caused by Sullivan changing his snap count and drawing Ram defenders offside.

“I’m proud to see our guys respond positively to the challenge and show that improvement we were hoping for from last week,” Shaver said. “We were down a couple of starters going in, and the heat and humidity really took a toll through the night. But it’s great to get that opening win under our belt and get a little bit of confidence for what’s in front of us. We’ve got to get better with a very good Thomasville team coming into our place.”

With the opening win, Central will host the Thomasville Bulldogs next Friday night at The Jackets’ Nest in the annual Rose City Rumble rivalry contest.