High School Pickerington Central Tigers

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Midwest recruiting Blog - ESPN

Gophers land two recruits, despite losing to Cal

The next to pull the trigger may be linebacker Willie Tatum (Pickerington, Ohio/Central). Tatum, who committed to Bowling Green during the summer, was also very impressed with his official visit to Minnesota.

"It was wonderful," Tatum said. "I liked it a lot. They have nice, new facilities, a nice locker room. I liked how friendly the staff, the coaches and the players were. Everybody was down to earth. I liked everything about it."

Tatum made the trip to Minnesota alone, so he wanted to go home and talk things over with his family. He plans to call the Minnesota coaches either Monday or Tuesday. When Tatum does, he will likely be a Gopher commitment.

"I'm still committed to Bowling Green," Tatum said. "But there is a pretty good chance I'll commit to Minnesota."

 

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College Football Recruiting On the Trail 2010 - ESPN

Outside linebacker Willie Tatum drops Mac Falcons for Gophers
Three-star Willie Tatum (Pickerington, Ohio/Central) has decommitted from Bowling Green and is now part of Minnesota's Class of 2010, NittanyNetwork.com's Bill Kurelic reports.

"I called and I committed," Tatum, who made an official visit to Minnesota this weekend, said. "I talked to Coach Brewster. He was excited. He was happy I committed. He thinks I can bring a lot to the program."

Marshall, Ohio and Eastern Michigan also offered the 6-foot-2, 200-pound sleeper.

 

[bigfrankfoota1]

Great game!!

Pickerington Central 14, Pickerington North 12: Tigers edge Panthers before packed house

Sunday, November 8, 2009 3:54 AM
By Mark Znidar


The Columbus Dispatch


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PICKERINGTON -- New Year's Eve will seem like just another party with potato chips and dip in Pickerington after the king-sized bash the suburb threw when its high school football teams met in the playoffs for the first time. A crowd approaching 6,000 elbowed its way into the shoebox of a stadium at Pickerington Central last night to see how little brother would fare against big brother in the third game between the schools.
Pickerington Central scored on a 3-yard run by Willie Tatum and a 13-yard reception by Tamani Carter and pulled off a goal-line stand to come away with a 14-12 victory over Pickerington North in a first-round Division I game.
The Tigers (10-1) won regular-season games over the Panthers (7-4) last season and this season.
"There are easier ways to make a living," Pickerington Central coach Jay Sharrett said. "In the playoffs it's all about effort, and our guys played hard. The first round of the playoffs is always about getting to the second round. Our guys fought."
Pickerington North made sure no one headed for the parking lots early by driving 74 yards for a touchdown in nine plays with 2:02 left to play. The capper was a 14-yard pass from Sean Flaherty to Chad Benson.
The two-point conversion pass fell incomplete when the ball bounced off the hands of receiver Shane O'Connell as he planted his feet and slipped in the end zone.
"Footage footage,"' Pickerington North coach Tom Phillips said. "I thought the pass was open. We gave ourselves a chance. That was a great two-minute drill for the touchdown. Overall, I don't think we did the little things right. But, hey, hats off to our kids. The program is growing, and we're going to get stronger."
Pickerington Central scored first on a 3-yard run by Tatum with 4:33 left in the first quarter. That seemed to take a lot of pressure off the Tigers.
"The last time we played they got on the board first, so we knew if we could score first that we could get some of that momentum," Tatum said of a 7-6 victory in September. "This game was so big. There is nothing like it. It was so hard hitting."
The Tigers' undersized defense made the next important play by stopping the Panthers on downs at the 6-yard line by gang-tackling 325-pound Chris Fuqua, who normally is an offensive and defensive lineman, inches short of a first down.
Pickerington North scored on a nine-play, 58-yard drive when Flaherty ran 3 yards up the middle with 24.3 seconds left in the half. The snap on the extra-point attempt sailed over the head of the holder and Flaherty never got a chance to kick.
Carter scored the Tigers' second touchdown with 7:21 left in the third quarter when he beat the cornerback on a slant on third-and-goal.
"It was a post route and the ball was perfectly thrown," Carter said. "The two DBs switched on the crossing route. That was a pretty big play for us."
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http://dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/11/08/hsfb_pickerington_11-8.ART_ART_11-08-09_C1_BQFJUHL.html?sid=101

 

[bigfrankfoota1]

Eilar Hardy and Tamani Carter played great games!

 

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http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...rs-make-a-statement-with-victory.html?sid=101

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 02:53 AM
By Steve Blackledge
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

It's not as if the Pickerington Central football program, with a 74-14 record the past seven-plus seasons, is starving for respect in these parts.

But a 36-20 victory over Oscar Frommel Smith of Chesapeake, Va., yesterday in the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic before an Ohio Stadium crowd and national TV audience might have sent out a message: Perhaps Pickerington Central deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with Cleveland Glenville, Canton McKinley, Cincinnati Elder and Hilliard Davidson.

"To beat a well-known team from California (Orange Lutheran) here last year was pretty big, but to beat this team - which has been ranked nationally - is huge," Tigers senior defensive back/receiver/running back Eilar Hardy said.

Aware that his team still must supplant defending state champion Davidson to be recognized as central Ohio's best team, Central coach Jay Sharrett wasn't about to make any bold pronouncement. He knew, however, that beating an Oscar Smith team coming off three straight seasons in the Virginia big-school final four, and one that annually produces major-college recruits, was no small chore.

"To beat a team of this caliber is definitely icing on the cake," he said. "I'm glad we've got a bye week because I can tell you that our team and our community is going to be celebrating this win all week long."

Central (2-0) saw what it was up against early. On the third play, Oscar Smith quarterback Jalian Williamson hooked up with receiver Quinta Funderburk on a 79-yard pass for a touchdown. Funderburk, a big-time recruit who made first-team all-state as a junior, outleaped Tamani Carter on the highlight-reel grab. They connected again for an 80-yard TD early in the second quarter.

Continued...

Carter atoned with 95-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was the first of several pivotal plays turned in by Central.