Why Centralia football divided 2023 into 3 seasons, and how it continues against Hallsville

For the Centralia High School Panthers, “season three” starts on Monday.

It’s a mantra that head coach Tyler Forsee has preached to his team since the beginning of the year. His Panthers were going to go through three different parts of their season — each one with its own significance and each with its own challenges.

“Season one” was Centralia facing its neighborhood schools, as Forsee described them. The Panthers faced Mexico and Hallsville to open their season, picking up two quick wins to gain some early momentum. From there, weeks three to nine made up “season two.” District play.

Now, the Panthers sit at 8-1, fresh off of a shutout victory against Macon and ready to hit the ground running in the postseason.

Enter “season three.”

“Here we are in districts,” Forsee said immediately following the Panthers’ 42-0 victory Friday. “It’s the third part of the season. We’re finishing here. It’s kind of nice to break things up.”

Breaking things up seems to have worked for Centralia thus far. Besides its demoralizing 48-14 loss to South Shelby one week ago, the Panthers have outmatched all of their opponents.

From the very first game of the season to the last game of regulation, Forsee’s squad played hard and played well … but it wasn’t focused on the big picture.

It’s focused on facing Hallsville.

“We need to take it one game at a time,” Forsee said. “I’m not going to have to convince our guys to be excited to host Hallsville. It’ll be a tough matchup, but our kids will be ready. [They’re] going to have to be ready to go for four straight quarters.”

During the second week of the season, Centralia got its revenge against Hallsville from a year ago, when it was knocked out of districts after just one round. In 2021, the Panthers lost by 14. In week two of this season, they won by 29, so a rematch certainly has the potential to go down to the wire, especially with the existing rivalry between both teams.

Safe to say, the Panthers are ready to see their rivals again.

“We're feeling really hyped about this game,” senior running back Braedyn Decker said. “We're really excited to get back on the field with Hallsville again and face them. It’s a close-town rivalry, so we’re going to play our best.”

Decker has emerged as a difference-maker for Centralia this season. Between his explosive first step to his downfield speed, the senior has shown why he’s pivotal for the Panthers. Friday night was no exception, either, as Decker put the icing on the cake for Centralia’s shutout victory.

Late in the third quarter, Decker lined up behind the quarterback and waited for the snap. He wasn’t going to receive the ball right away — granted, it wasn’t a wildcat formation.

But it was one of the Panthers’ favorites.

As the ball left the ground into senior quarterback Cullen Bennett’s hands and then into Decker’s, the running back took off with nothing but green grass in front of him.

“I just hit the hole as fast as I can,” Decker said of the play. “I had to break away from everyone else. I was trying not to get tackled.”

Decker wasn’t. The Panthers found the endzone for the final time of the night to put a cap on their blowout, Decker was the reason why and Forsee couldn’t have been more excited.

“It was nice seeing Braedyn get that long touchdown,” Forsee said. “He’s a kid that didn’t see varsity time last year, so it was special. It’s nice to see those guys have success.”

Coming off of a season when he saw little to no varsity action, Decker’s emergence as a Centralia star was a welcome one for the Panthers. But his improvement and commitment to being better only emulate what Forsee sees up and down his roster.

To him, that’s what makes the Panthers special.

“This is the best group of kids I have ever coached,” Forsee said. “I wholeheartedly mean that. We have a bunch of good human beings. They’re ornery, but fun, and they work hard.”

“I’ve been a part of teams where, come week eight or week nine, they’re starting to look at what’s next,” he added. “But these guys have fun in the moment. I’m lucky to get to coach them.”

As Centralia prepares itself to welcome Hallsville to its home field next Friday, it’ll likely think back to one year ago. Then, the Panthers sat in the same position as they do now. Facing the Indians during week one of districts, needing a win to survive and wanting to play more football.

One year ago, the latter did not come true. Nor did it the year before, when the Panthers were also eliminated by the Panthers. So, this scene is familiar. For Forsee, for Centralia and for Hallsville. But just as the Panthers aren’t focused on the big picture, they aren’t focused on the past. They’re taking things one game at a time.

But if the past is any indicator … Centralia also lost to Macon last year.

For the Panthers, the next stage of their schedule is set. Facing Hallsville at home is where everything comes to a head. Forsee is ready, as are the Panthers. It will just be up to them to prove that.

Enter “season three.”

“We've been preparing [for this] since day one of the summer,” Decker said. “We've been practicing and grinding in the weight room and the practice field for months to be prepared for this moment.”

“Hopefully it's not gonna be my last time on the football field.”

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Centralia football divided 2023 into 3 seasons