Centralia has had many cylinders firing as the No. 1 team in Class 2 but has other areas to work on.

The Panthers remained undefeated against Highland and won their eighth straight Clarence Cannon Conference opener with a 64-20 victory at home. Centralia (3-0) led Highland (0-3) 56-0 at halftime.

Head coach Tyler Forsee said Centralia had a lot of success running the ball with 499 rushing yards and were able to end drives quickly. The Panthers improved in other areas, such as special teams.

“Our special teams – our kickoff unit – looked a lot better,” Forsee said. “Callahan Hestir, our kicker, did a better job on the placement of his kicks because we’re trying to get to the sideline between hash and sideline. Our coverage was much better, and we spent a lot of time on that this week.”

Ethan Ross led with 174 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries, Cody Prater had 83 yards and two touchdowns on three carries, Lathan Fitzsimmons had 26 yards and one touchdown on three carries, Oliver Bohlmeyer had a 33-yard touchdown run, and Louis Suddarth had a 92-yard touchdown run. Suddarth, who led the defense with six tackles, has three carries, and they all have been touchdowns. 

Forsee said the offensive line had players rotating in and out along with the skill positions, and they all did a good job. He would like to see further development from the passing game in future weeks, starting with a 7 p.m. Friday game at Hermann (0-3).

“We’re going to keep working on fundamentals like we’ve got to be able to tackle,” Forsee said. “We did have some missed tackles. We still need to keep improving that kickoff game. It’s small things that can equal big results.”