CENTERBURG — Centerburg had a surprise in store for everyone who follows Know Morrow Athletic Conference football.
The Trojans are now the sole leaders of the KMAC after shockingly dominating previously undefeated Mount Gilead 46-0.
Entering Friday’s game, both Centerburg and Mount Gilead were undefeated in the KMAC, drawing a huge crowd to the Week 7 showdown riddled with playoff implications.
For the home crowd, it was a satisfying episode as the Trojans fired on all cylinders.
“We had a lot of energy today and a lot of effort, and it just snowballed from there,” Centerburg coach Andy Colella said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell the kids, is that when you play with that kind of energy and effort, they’re good enough to be able to do that.”
On the other hand, the visiting Indians got their first loss of the year in the form of an eye-opening, head-scratching, running-clock lesson.
Mount Gilead will look to regroup next week at home against Northmor.
Centerburg’s jolt from the jump
Even though the final score says otherwise, the Trojans had some minor issues to kick the game off.
Junior running back Miles Marshall ran the ball in for a touchdown twice on the opening drive, but both times, penalties negated the points.
Senior wide receiver Hayden Love ended the penalty drama with a nice touchdown catch, followed by a successful two-point conversion toss from Marshall.
A deep ball from senior quarterback Blane Ball to sophomore receiver Eli Indiciani kept Centerburg’s foot firmly on the gas.
Marshall followed that play with a touchdown run, no penalties this time, and a successful two-pointer from junior tight end star Jackson Ballinger made it 16-0 Trojans, still in the first quarter.
Just like their high-octane offense, Centerburg’s special teams unit made a play of their own.
Junior linebacker Ashton Anderson recovered a knuckleball of a squib kick to put the Trojans once again in enemy territory.
Before you knew it, the scoreboard was changing again.
This time, senior running back Shawn Carter burned past Indian defenders into the end zone and dove for the two-point conversion.
With the clock reading 4:06 in the first quarter and 24-0 in favor of Centerburg, Mount Gilead simply could not stop the bleeding.
After another punt, Mount Gilead found itself running down Ballinger on its own half of the field after Ball hit him in stride. The Ballinger catch and run opened the door for Marshall to weave through defenders and score again shortly thereafter.
It was 32-0 after a Ball two-pointer tacked on to end the Trojans’ onslaught of points from the first quarter.
A quick second quarter and half
Things slowed down in the second quarter quite a bit until Ballinger high-pointed a 27-yard pass out of the air for six more points.
The Trojans switched things up and kicked an extra point, making it 39-0 to close the half.
With Centerburg ahead by 30 points or more, the game clock was running to start the second half.
To really ice things on their home turf, Ballinger snatched an interception to open the half.
The heads-up play led to a Ball quarterback keeper touchdown and a successful extra point kick with around two minutes to go in the third quarter.
Centerburg allowed some of their younger prospects to get some reps in the fourth quarter, as they closed out the shutout win 46-0.
