Centre trounces Blue Valley-Randolph
In their first meeting ever, the Centre Cougars handily knocked off Blue Valley-Randolph Friday by the score of 52-14. The season opener was played at Blue Valley-Randolph.
Centre scored seven touchdowns and 10 extra points. The first Cougar points came at 7:29 in the first quarter with a 53-yard pass from quarterback Curtis Gutsch to Todd Stahlecker. Mark Pagenkopf ran for the two-point conversion.
The first touchdown in the second quarter was scored on a five-yard quarterback sneak by Gutsch. Then Todd Stahlecker took a pass from Gutsch and ran 43 yards for another touchdown. Gutsch scored the extra points. Just 46 seconds before the half, Kyle Luna completed a pass from Gutsch and ran 12 yards for another touchdown. Gutsch again ran for the extra points.
Kyle Luna scored the only touchdown of the third quarter with a six-yard run. Eric Peterson caught a pass and ran for the extra points. At the end of the quarter, the score stood at 34-0.
About eight and one-half minutes into the fourth quarter, Blue Valley got onto the scoreboard for the first time. They scored a touchdown on a 41-yard run by Jared Fronce, who caught a pass from Rusty Maddox. The extra-point attempt was no good.
Thirteen seconds later, Pagenkopf returned the kick-off for 71 yards and the Cougars' sixth touchdown.
Blue Valley scored another eight points with 3:40 left to play in the game. However, Centre answered with eight points of their own on a 69-yard kick return by Pagenkopf and two extra points by Scott Peterson on a pass from Andrew Hajek.
During the game, Pagenkopf recovered a fumble and Stahlecker intercepted the ball twice.
Centre had 31 carries for 92 yards rushing, compared with 51 carries for 145 yards by Blue Valley.
"We're going to have to get our running game going," Coach Bud Peterson said afterward.
He noted that Blue Valley was "extremely large" with a strong defensive front line.
"We had to find other ways to score," he said.
He was pleased with outstanding play by the Cougar defense. Derek Belton had six unassisted tackles and four with assists. Travis Burns had two unassisted tackles and 10 with assists. Brandon Klenda had five unassisted tackles and eight with assists.
Other strong contributors were Eric Peterson, Mark Pagenkopf, and Todd Stahlecker.
"For the first night out, I was pleased with the team's effort," Coach Peterson said. "They showed a lot of discipline and didn't have many penalties."
Centre hosts St. Xavier Friday.
Team statistics
First downs: Centre 11, BV 26.
Rushing: Centre 3-92, BV 51-145.
Passing: Centre 7-10-0 160, BV 7-19-2 113.
Punts: Centre 3-87, BV 2-63
Punt return: 2-35, 1-4 .
Kickoffs: Centre 8-303, BV 8-115.
Kick returns: Centre 3-155, BV 8-141.
Fumbles: Centre 3-1 loss, BV 1-1 loss.
Penalties: Centre 3-25, BV 5-38.
Individual statistics for Centre
Tackles: Travis Burns 2-10, Derek Belton 6-4, Brandon Klenda 5-8, Pagenkopf 5-2, Stahlecker 2-6, Peterson 4-7, Luna 2-4, Brent Carlson 2-2, Hajek 1-3.
Rushing: Pagenkopf, 12-34; Gutsch, 7-10; Luna, 11-51; Brent Carlson, l-3.
Passing: Gutsch, 6-7 150; Peterson, 1-3 10.
Passes caught: Stahlecker 2-96, 2TD; Pagenkopf 3-51; Luna 2-13.
Kick-offs: Stahlecker 3-121; Vegim Krelani 5-182.
Kick returns: Gutsch 1-12; Pagenkopf 2-143.
Punts: Gutsch 3-87.
Punt returns: Stahlecker 2-35.
