Lancers don't come in flocks, of course, but No. 81 certainly Shepherded them to victory.
With 3 minutes, 9 seconds remaining, he snapped a 20-20 tie by returning a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown. Well, that's how the touchdown would be described in a box score. It was actually a 20-yard, stolen-ball return.
The visitor was Northeast, Central's forever Thanksgiving rival and the defending AAAA kingpin, and the final score wound up being 28-20 . . . after Richard "Tre" Drayton caught the conversion pass . . . after Hakeem Ellis recovered Ryan Dydak's unintentional onside kick . . . after Northeast got one last chance and David Oliphant pounced upon a fumble.
Central had a tremendous turnout, especially of students, to view the school's first win over Northeast since Thanksgiving 2004 - 0-9 in the interim, two meetings apiece in 2007 and '08, outscored by 251-94 - and there was no containing the joy as the final whistle sounded.
Coach Rich Drayton, Tre's dad and star receiver for the 1985 Public League champs, led the Lancers in an old-school chant ("Central, mambo! . . . Ole! Ole!") and soon the players were running here, there and everywhere to scream and interact with classmates, friends and family.
Shepherd, for one, made a dash to the restraining fence, where he giddily allowed himself to be pummeled.
"That was so much fun!" he said, laughing. "Didn't hurt at all."
The 5-10, 180-pound Shepherd plays outside linebacker, and his thievery terminated an 8-yard run by Marquis Edwards. Fittingly, he scored in the field's northeast corner.
"My focus was to get the ball back for my team, no matter what the cost," Shepherd said. "To get that ball and score, it was just exhilarating.
"I'd forced fumbles, but I'd never really recovered any. That one, I just yanked the ball out. I actually thought about doing that as I approached him. The opportunity was there. As I was running, I looked back to see if I'd get caught. Never did."
