“It may have been the best game we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Tyler Forsee has been at Centralia for 14 years and said the Panthers played their best game under him as …
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“It may have been the best game we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Tyler Forsee has been at Centralia for 14 years and said the Panthers played their best game under him as head coach on Friday. Palmyra has been turning heads this season until earning a state ranking for the first time this season, but Class 2 No. 5 Centralia was much more impressive with a 44-8 win at Clarence Cannon Conference foe and Class 2 No. 10 Palmyra (5-3, 2-3 CCC).
Forsee said Centralia (7-1, 5-1 CCC) was better in three phases: kicking, offense and defense. There have been many games in his 14 years at Centralia, but this recent game “by far” was still the Panthers’ best game. Centralia has at least 300 total yards in all eight games this season after running for 467 yards on Friday, and the defense limited Palmyra to 142 total yards and five first downs.
“Our kids played exceptionally well,” Forsee said. “Our kids executed that well on offense, defense and special teams.”
Starting with Palmyra’s running game, Forsee said the opposing Panthers have two running backs to worry about — Wyatt Augspurg and Kason Augspurg — and Wyatt Augspurg has run for 250 yards multiple times this season. They combined for 123 rushing yards. Forsee said Charlie Robinson (eight tackles) and Rex Bryson (six tackles) both had big hits on defense, Oliver Bohlmeyer had returned an interception for a touchdown, Ashton Price (five tackles) and Dax Deckerd (two tackles) had a combined 2.5 tackles for loss, and Zarek Poe (three tackles), Chris (two tackles) Brown and Tilmon Sontheimer (three tackles) were more physical than Palmyra up front. He said Anthony Ford was key in stopping the run.
“They run buck sweep, and that strong guard that comes to kick out, he would fold that guy in like you wouldn’t believe,” Forsee said. “That (guard is) going to Northwest (Missouri State) to go play. We held them in check. They had a ton of punts.”
Callahan Hestir had three touchbacks as Centralia’s kicker on kickoffs to lead special teams, and Forsee said Bryson “led the show” on offense with 201 rushing yards and one touchdown on 11 carries. Ethan Ross had a couple touchdowns along with 90 rushing yards on 14 carries, and Chase Kempker had 69 rushing yards and two touchdowns on five carries.
Centralia scored 40 points for the fourth straight week for its longest such streak since the Panthers began the 2017 season with five straight 40-point games. Palmyra has stopped other running games, but Centralia maintained dominance.
“Our offensive line did a really good job of opening up big holes up the middle that we just hit over and over,” Forsee said. “We were dashing for 8- to 12-yard runs over and over and wore them down.”
Forsee said Centralia is feeling confident after winning its toughest game on the schedule and needs to continue playing well at 7 p.m. Friday at Kirksville (4-4). He said Centralia wants to earn a No. 2 seed in the tough Class 2 District 5 with five winning teams, including the top two teams Blair Oaks and Warsaw.
