Hightower sparks Central

Published 11:09 am Friday, December 9, 2005

THOMASVILLE — The opening kickoff between Thomasville and Thomas County Central last Friday was a foreshadowing of things to come — good news for the Yellow Jackets.

Central’s Chester Hightower returned the opening kick 73 yards, weaving his way deep into Bulldogs’ territory, setting up Central’s first score.

“Chester returned two kickoffs last year for touchdowns at the end of the year,” said Central head coach Ed Pilcher. “He does a great job of getting up in there. He’s got enough speed to where he can take it all the way.”

Much of the return hinged on Hightower’s athletic ability. He broke through the defenders in the middle of the field before breaking down the left sideline.

“A lot of return yardage is basically just having the athlete back there who can make (people) miss, has speed to do so — a lot of that is just him,” Pilcher said.

Hightower’s opening-kickoff heroics were just the beginning as he had two other fantastic returns called back because of penalties. One of which came on a touchdown, as a Central player was called for a block in the back near the Yellow Jackets’ sideline and in front of the head coach.

“Most of the time when you have penalties, a lot of times it’s because they’re really hustling and trying to do things right and sometimes they forget,” said Pilcher, “like when you get a block in the back. They know not to do that.

“The one in front of us was a clip, I knew it was going to come back. It wasn’t a vicious block, but he touched him. He blocked him.We’ve got to keep working on them and using better judgement. I want them to stay aggressive.”

The potential for big returns by Central special teams certainly caught the eye of Tim Cokely, head coach of the Colquitt County Packers, Central’s opponent Friday.

“Team speed,” Cokely stressed, “it’s difficult to stop.”

The big returns were not a surprise to Pilcher as he and the Yellow Jackets hope they’ll continue Friday night at Mac Tharpe Stadium.

“The key is, we’ve got to create a seam for him to get into. When we watched the tape, we figured we had a chance to get some big returns and we did,” Pilcher added.

“I think every one was a big return.”