A tough season for Ben’s Ford Christian School came to a close Thursday night, as the Eagles lost to Central Private, 41-8, at home in a District 5AAA contest.

“Well, they didn’t quit,” Ben’s Ford coach Robert N. Cook said. “That’s something we can build on, that they didn’t quit.”

Cook said the team had a lot of injuries and a lot of young players.

“Freshmen, I’m talking about, had to step up and play, just because of our numbers and the injury bug got us. That’s part of it,” Cook said.

Cook said he was proud of his senior class.

“The seniors were a blessing,” Cook said. “They picked these young guys up. They never quit. A lot of teams probably would have have folded up and felt like there was no reason to go to practice, but these guys didn’t. They kept on preserving and playing. They played every play.”

Ben’s Ford trailed 21-0 after the first quarter — all on rushing touchdowns by Central Private.

The Rebels took a 7-0 lead when Austin Slater, who had 99 yards rushing in the first quarter and two touchdowns and 128 yards for the game, went 43 yards to the end zone. Brandt Glover added the extra point with 7:23 left in the first quarter.

Central Private added to its lead 2:05 later on a 30-yard touchdown run by Cole Averette. Glover’s extra point split the uprights to make it 14-0.

Slater added six more to the lead on a 17-yard run and Glover’s extra point made it 21-0 through the first quarter.

The second period was scoreless until the final play. Ben’s Ford had the ball on fourth down at its own 2. The Eagles lined up to punt out of their own end zone. Glover caught the ball at Ben’s Ford’s 34, ran toward the left sideline and into the end zone as time expired. He added the the extra point to make it 28-0 at halftime.

Central Private scored on the opening possession of the third quarter. The Rebels drove from their own 35 to Ben’s Ford 26. Averette, who had 125 rushing yards in the game, took the handoff and got to the 2, but fumbled into the end zone. Both teams scrambled for the loose ball in the end zone, which was recovered by Glover for the touchdown.

Central Private coach Joey Sanchez said his team’s coaches thought the ball had been advanced into the end zone and that the officials were bringing it back to the spot. He thought it was first-and-goal at the 2, so his offense was on the field and ran a play that Ben’s Ford stopped, but the play was a 2-point conversion.

“It was just a coaching blunder on our sideline,” Sanchez said. “We assumed it was going back to the spot. We ran a play, not knowing it was the two-point conversion until afterwards. Had we realized it was a touchdown, we would’ve kicked the extra point.”

Central Private made it 41-0 with 12 seconds to go in the third quarter when Blake Kolb, who had 53 rushing yards, scored on a 2-yard run. Glover added the extra point and it was 41-0.

It remained that way until the 3:43 mark of the fourth quarter. Ben’s Ford’s Robert Gaitan, who had 46 rushing yards, broke up the shutout on a 3-yard touchdown run. Cameron Byrd ran for the two-point conversion.

The key play on the drive was when Jeremiah Slocum, who threw for 103 yards, connected with Byrd on a 44-yard pass. Byrd had 103 receiving yards in the game.

Ben’s Ford finished with a 1-9 overall record and an 0-4 record in district play.

Central Private finished its regular season with a 6-2 overall record and a 2-2 record in district play.