CENTERBURG — On a chillier, real football-weather type of night, the Centerburg Trojans showed another packed home crowd exactly why they are the leaders of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.
The Trojans used a fiery offensive performance in the second half and some clutch defensive plays to rough up the Danville Blue Devils 44-14.
Centerburg led just 14-6 at halftime, but coach Andy Colella credited a change in attitude from his players for the second-half fireworks.
“We weren’t playing real well up front. So, we had a little attitude adjustment coming out of halftime,” Colella said.
“We were able to do some things just a little bit differently with where we were running the ball and how we were doing that. That kind of took over there in the second half up front.”
Colella was also proud of his senior leaders and how they performed in their senior night game. But he hopes to have the offense start faster, heading into East Knox next week.
On the other sideline, Danville coach Matt Blum said his squad must clean up the turnovers. But he was proud of how players rallied throughout the game.
“We’ve got a two-game stretch that’s going to determine what we want to do with our season,” Blum said.
Trojans start slow in 1st quarter
Midway through the first quarter, junior Miles Marshall peeled off a crowd-roaring pick-six to give the Trojans their first points of the game.
Naturally, the star cornerback and running back converted the two-point conversion as well for an 8-0 lead.
Love adds to the Trojans total before halftime
Early in the second period, senior return man Hayden Love found a hole and hit it as he scored off the Devils’ punt.
A missed two-point conversion kept the score at 14-0 Centerburg.
Danville responded with a solid drive, fueled by a fourth-down conversion. Junior Nolan Ridgway answered the call and got the Devils on the board with a touchdown to close to within 14-6 at halftime.
Centerburg’s attitude adjustment
Marshall started the second half onslaught at 7:44 in the third for the Trojans, darting past the pylons for a touchdown and the ensuing two-point conversion to make the score 22-6.
With under a minute to play in the third, senior quarterback Blane Ball found the end zone on a quarterback keeper.
Yet again, Marshall bounced between the tackles for the two-point conversion to make it 30-6 heading to the final 12 minutes.
Finishing strong
The Blue Devils tried to rally with a march, but Centerburg senior Tommy Hause snatched an interception and took it to the house for a pick-six.
After an extra point kick cleared the uprights, the score was 37-6, and the running clock began.
Danville’ Cy Wallace stopped the running clock with a long TD run, cutting the deficit to 37-14.
Ball found Jackson Ballinger for a nice completion to the 2-yard line, and Marshall got into the end zone on the next play for the final 44-14 margin.
Hause grabbed an interception to thwart Danville’s final possession.
