Centennial overcomes slow start to rout Mustangs

Centennial’s football team came out of the blocks slowly Friday night in its Sunset Regional quarterfinal against Shadow Ridge.

It could have been for several reasons, including a blowout win over the Mustangs earlier this season.

But once the No. 7 Bulldogs righted the ship, it become another runaway victory.

The Bulldogs scored 30 points in the second quarter and never looked back in a 50-13 win over the visiting Mustangs.

Centennial (6-4) will visit Palo Verde (9-1) in a region semifinal next Friday.

After gaining just 15 yards in the first quarter, Centennial went to work in the second, gaining 143 yards and getting big plays from all three facets of the game.

“They showed us some things early we haven’t seen,” said Centennial coach Leon Evans. “But we adjusted, and got our running game going. Once we got rolling, good things happened. Now it’s on to Palo Verde, enough said.”

Down 3-0, the Bulldogs got on the board early in the second quarter. Lantz Worthington started the scoring spree with a dazzling 32-yard run, and Centennial led 7-3.

Colton Carpenter then returned an interception 80 yards to give the Bulldogs a first-and-goal from the 5. Centennial quarterback Coll Thomson scored two plays later, and the Bulldogs led 14-3.

Centennial blocked a punt in the end zone for a safety, and Thomson threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final 1:40 of the first half, to give the Bulldogs a 30-3 halftime lead.

Thomson threw touchdowns passes on three straight completions, the final one a 27-yard strike to Brandan Harley to open the third quarter as Centennial extended the lead to 36-3.

The bright spot for the Mustangs was the work of senior Cody Alfar, who led all rushers with 145 yards on 29 carries and scored the lone Shadow Ridge touchdown with 8:10 remaining.

Centennial was led by Worthington with 59 yards on six carries, all in the first half. Thomson completed 6 of 12 passes for 120 yards.

Puia threw for 122 yards for Shadow Ridge (5-5), but was intercepted three times and was sacked once.