Contributing writer
Every year, during the middle of the season, each school has its homecoming festivities. And the Cougars sure know how to celebrate them.
“It is always fun to know that the team we are facing is having its homecoming that night,” said Cole Svoboda. “It is just another thing to fire us up before the game.”
The Cougars traveled to Waverly Friday. The Bulldogs won the toss and chose to kick. The game started with a touchback.
With the Cougars on their own 15, it took two plays for Tanner Brunner and Rustyn Kerbs to set the pace of the game with a 34-yard-run and a 31-yard score. But Centre failed the conversion attempt.
After a quick 6-0 lead, the Cougars forced Waverly to punt and gained control on their own 17. They muscled out three first downs to lead to an untouched Kerbs touchdown on the ground, but they again failed to gather the extra two points.
The Bulldogs were forced to punt after three plays. Kerbs botched the punt return, allowing the Bulldogs to recover and score and add the extra two points.
As the Cougars moved downfield on the first possession of the second quarter, they sneaked in an 8-yard touchdown rush by Kerbs but still failed to add two points.
In 39 seconds, the Cougars stopped the Bulldogs on fourth down and scored on a 47-yard scramble from Brunner but were denied on the conversion.
As Brunner kicked off, Waverly’s Kyle Henry found a gap and returned a 71-yard kickoff return and capitalized on the two-point conversion.
With the score at 24-16, Centre maintained its fired-up offense. Casey Kristek broke a couple of Waverly tackles, leading to a Brunner 2-yard quarterback sneak for 6 points.
After a big return for the Bulldogs to the Cougars’ 39-yard line, three plays were all it took for Tanner Sipe to connect with Travis Sipe through the air for 6 points and the two-point conversion.
Waverly tried a floating kick and recovered it from a Cougar to gain back possession on the kickoff. However, on the next play, Kerbs intercepted the Bulldog pass at the 13-yard line.
On third down, Kerbs and Brunner executed a double pass to Brian Burhoop 40 yards downfield for Kerbs to explode into the end zone. After failing the last five two-point conversions, Centre converted for two and a 38-24 lead.
Since the Bulldogs chose to kick to start the game, they had the first possession of the second half. From one Sipe to another, the Bulldogs picked up 28 yards in the air and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass and converted the extra points.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Cougars as they outscored the Bulldogs 28-0.
Sipe botched the snap to let Brunner recover and capitalize on the next drive with an 11-yard touchdown run and the two extra points.
Forcing the Bulldogs to punt from their own 15, Centre’s Kordell Harding blocked the punt to recover the ball in the end zone for two points.
The Bulldogs gained possession of the ball, but Centre was still lights out on defense with a sack from Casey Kristek to force yet another three-and-out. Two plays later, Brunner threw a screen pass to Kristek who dodged several Bulldog defenders for a 35-yard touchdown.
As the Bulldogs tried to gain momentum at the end of the game, the Cougars stopped them on third down. The punt went to Kerbs, who exploded for a 35-yard punt return for a touchdown. The conversion attempt failed, but as time ran out, the game ended with the score 74-32.
With 505 yards of total offense, the ground game was the best choice for the Cougars. They gained 389 yards on 42 carries for eight touchdowns.
The Bulldogs converted 16 first downs to the Cougars’ 9, but the Bulldog defense was able to stop the Cougars on only one drive of their twelve drives in the game.
Brunner was leading rusher with 16 carries for 161 yards and four touchdowns. He threw 6-of-10 completed passes including one touchdown pass. He also led the defense with 25 tackles.
Brian Burhoop was the leading receiver, compiling 56 yards on two pass receptions. Kerbs had two interceptions.
“We had turnovers early in the game, which made the game closer than it should have been at halftime,” Coach Kelly Steiner said. “We have got to cut down our penalties and stop turning the ball over.”
The Cougars are now 3-0 in district play. They will travel to Altoona-Midway Friday for their next district game.
Individual statistics
Rushing — Brunner 16-161, 4 touchdowns; Kerbs 13-138, 4 touchdowns; Kristek 13-90.
Passing — Brunner 6-10-116 yards, 1 touchdown.
Receiving — Kristek 2-38 and I touchdown, Burhoop 2-56, Cole Svoboda 2-22.
Pass interceptions — Kerbs 2.
Punt returns — Kerbs 1-35 and a touchdown, Harding a blocked punt and reception for a touchdown.
Total tackles — Brunner 23, Kordell Harding 17, Kristek 10, Svoboda 10, Jacob Jirak 9, Kendall Harding 9, Shane Methvin 6, Kerbs 5, Terren Thompson 5, Houston Svoboda 4, Kyle Methvin 3.