After defeating St. Paul Thursday, 46-16, the Centre High School Cougars were district champions with a record of 4-0. They faced South Haven Tuesday in the bi-district playoff game.
Centre advanced to Saturday’s regional playoff by defeating South Haven, 56-26. The Cougars will play either Hanover or Wilson.
In the game against St. Paul, there were 22 first downs, 11 by each team. All of the Indians’ points were scored in the first quarter.
The Cougars won the toss and chose to receive, starting from their own 21-yard line. On the second play of the game, Rustyn Kerbs made a break to the outside for a 59-yard touchdown run, but the two-point conversion failed.
Tanner Brunner kicked off into the end zone, which ended up as a touchback, starting the Indians on their own 15.
DJ Vitt broke a Cougar tackle for a 28-yard run but St. Paul went three-and-out.
Trevor Troutt slammed the hole for a gain of 21 yards. Brunner matched that with a 46-yard touchdown run at the 8:21 mark but the conversion attempt failed.
Yet again, Brunner’s kick made the Indians start on their own 15. On third down, Indians’ halfback Tyler Kennedy shed a tackler and converted a 63-yard touchdown run. The conversion counted. Centre led, 12-8.
On the next Cougar drive starting from their own 25, Brunner completed passes to Kerbs and Troutt to move them close to the end zone, where Brunner ran 3 yards for a touchdown. He also ran for the two-point conversion to put the Cougars ahead 20-8.
St. Paul’s quarterback took over and rushed 3 times for 42 yards on the next drive to add 8 points to the board, making the score 20-16.
After that, the momentum switched to the Cougars. Facing a fourth down and 5, Brunner found Kerbs on his route, who went 31 yards for a touchdown. At the end of the first quarter, Centre led 28-16.
Zach Antoszyk intercepted a pass on the Indians’ next possession. Later in that drive, Brunner completed a 17-yard touchdown run.
After that last turnover by St. Paul on third down, Casey Kristek made a 5-yard sack to force a three-and-out. Brunner fumbled a pitch from the option but it was recovered by the Cougars.
With six seconds left in the first half, Brunner made a 25-yard pass to the corner of the end zone to hook up with Alex Hajek for a touchdown reception and a halftime score of 40-16.
Clock management was a key strategy by the Cougars in the third quarter. No points were scored by either team because of multiple three-and-outs and fourth down stops.
Starting the fourth quarter, Brunner was stopped on fourth down to give the Indians possession. A few plays later Brunner forced a fumble and Kristek fell on it to bring it back.
On the next play, Brunner ran a 34-yard run for 6 points. The Cougars finished with a satisfying 30-point victory.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Tanner Brunner, 15c-189; Trevor Troutt, 17c-91; Rustyn Kerbs, 9-85.
Passing: Brunner, 3/11-63; Justin Deines, 0/1-0.
Receptions: Alex Hajek, 1-25; Kerbs, 2-38.
Interceptions: Zach Antoszyk, 1.
Kickoff returns: Kerbs, 3-55.
Tackles (solo/assisted/sacks): Hajek, 9-0-0; Kordell Harding, 2-1-0; Brunner, 15-6-2; Jacob Jennings, 1-0-1; Casey Kristek, 4-5-1; Troutt, 3-0-0; Trevor Hageberg, 1-0-0; Stephen Kaiser, 2-0-0; Benjamin Wirtz, 2-1-0; Cole Svoboda, 2-1-0; Antoszyk, 6-6-1; Shane Methvin, 2-3-0; Kerbs, 8-2-0.