McCoy, Centralia defense sparks 33-0 win vs Brookfield

Before the Centralia offense could thrive, the defense stepped up on Friday night.

Centralia vs Brookfield Photo Gallery

The Class 3 No. 6 Panthers improved their perfect record to 4-0 and extended their winning streak to nine against Clarence Cannon Conference foe Brookfield with a 33-0 victory at home. The defense came away with five turnovers, including three interceptions, to set up Centralia for a big second half after leading 7-0 at halftime.

Elliott McCoy stepped up in the secondary for the Panthers (4-0, 2-0 CCC) as he intercepted two passes at big moments. His first happened right after Brookfield (1-3, 0-2 CCC) connected on a big passing play to place the Bulldogs at Centralia’s seven-yard line and then his second pick on a screen pass was returned for a touchdown on a 52-yard play, making it 13-0 early in the second half.

“Elliott is a playmaker,” Forsee said. “He just has a knack for the ball. He’s very competitive so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s making these plays. He had two interceptions last week (in a win at Palmyra) that came at big moments. I’m glad he stepped up because it allows more people to get in there and get it done.”

Brookfield was able to amass 146 yards through the air and tried to confuse Centralia by having multiple players throw the football. This resulted in big passing plays downfield, but Brookfield wasn’t able to do much offensively following a goal line stand on the first drive of the game.

Brookfield advanced the ball inches away from Centralia’s end zone on a nine-play, 76-yard drive but couldn’t punch the ball in thanks to wall at the line. The Bulldogs only ran for 30 yards while Centralia had a balance offensively with 198 yards passing and 170 yards rushing.

“We had to be a little more aggressive on our defensive side than what we have been,” Forsee said. “We’ve been doing a little more reading and reacting. We weren’t reading and reacting quick enough. I forced them to move and it seemed to help get those guys in the right position to help make a play.”

Forsee praised his team in the postgame huddle, letting them know there were several Panthers who made key plays that factored into the win. Rex Bryson, along with three catches for 34 yards and a touchdown, had an interception. Emery Mast had a sack and then stripped Brookfield for a fumble he recovered later that same drive.

Some of the players that met the ball carrier on the goal line stop were Ashton Price, Mason Adkisson and Ian Tuggle. Price led the team with 10 tackles and three tackles for loss, Tuggle had nine tackles and a team-high four tackles for loss and a fumble recovery, and Adkisson came up with a sack and stayed involved all night.

“Mason had a good game, which is nice because he’s been struggling on the defensive side,” Forsee said. “Ian Tuggle has played great in every game so far on defense. I’m excited what it looks like for him because he’s still improving.”

Centralia’s offense eventually caught up to the defense after dealing with various penalties that either hurt its drives or extended Brookfield drives. Forsee said he didn’t agree with several of the calls but knows for sure Bennett made some clutch throws to several receivers.

On the ground, Bennett scored twice along with running for 40 yards on four carries, Drayden Conde led with 68 yards on 16 carries and Jesse Caballero ran for 63 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. The senior quarterback completed passes to six receivers – using players like Anthony Ford, Cayden Dunn and Ben Romine to extend drives – and finished 20-for-27 passing. Ford led with 71 yards on five catches, Dunn had 30 yards on three catches and Romine had 29 yards on three catches.

“Cullen Bennett made some great passe, and I thought our receivers caught the ball extremely well,” Forsee said. “We’re not dropping very many passes. Our receivers are running good routes, they’re finding a way to get open and they’re catching the ball the way they’re supposed to.”

The victory happened on a special night for Centralia football as it was the 20th anniversary of when the Panthers won the Class 2 state championship. The players were honored at halftime, and Forsee had a chance to meet with longtime friends. He said he was on the 2002 team that finished second in the state the previous season.

“It was neat to see some of those people I haven’t seen for a while,” Forsee said.

Centralia plays at Class 2 No. 4 and conference rival Monroe City (3-1, 1-1 CCC) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Centralia cross country sweeps South Callaway Invitational, Holiman breaks record

The Centralia runners dominated the field Saturday at the South Callaway Invitational.

The boys won the team title with 42 points — Elsberry had 68 points — and the girls were first with 49 points, ahead of Linn’s 61 points. Rohan Holiman had the best Centralia performance of the day as his third-place time of 16:50.58 in the boys 5,000 meters set a new school record.

Not far behind Holiman was Dryst Bostick in fifth with a time of 17:35.62, Eli Hill in ninth with a 17:58.02, Carter Moss in 10th with a 18:04.17, Wesley Robertson in 16th with a 18:36.88 and Trenton Brooks in 19th with a 18:50.74.

Kenedee Moss had the highest finish in the girls race with a second-place time of 21:25.49, Shelby Lewis was third with a 21:59.18, Chezney Baker was eighth with a 23:17.78 and Rylee Palmer was ninth with a 23:20.22. Eldon's Zoe Martinfi was first with a time of 19:45.45.

Lady Panthers hold off Boonville 5-4

Kaelyn Walters helped keep Boonville from victory on Saturday.

In what was a makeup from an earlier postponement, Centralia defeated Boonville 5-4 on the road thanks partly to a solo home run by Walters in the seventh inning and seven innings with nine hits, six strikeouts and one earned run. Madi Jonson ended up with the game-winning hit later in the seventh via a RBI double.

Cora King finished with two RBI, including one on a sacrifice fly earlier in the game, and Tilly Fox scored two runs for the Lady Panthers (9-4) after hitting a triple and a double.

Walters kept her composure in the seventh inning after Boonville (4-9) mounted a two-out rally that was made more possible by an error. She stranded two runners by inducing a groundout. 

Centralia played at Clarence Cannon Conference rival Monroe City on Monday and was at Fatima on Tuesday before playing in the Jennies High School Softball Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Warrensburg.