Ryk Piche's assessment of what went right for his Centennial Centaurs on Friday was succinct and certain.
"We blocked and we ran," the Centaurs head coach said simply.
Boy, did they.
The Cents racked up 476 rushing yards on only 25 carries on way to a lopsided 46-7 win over South Surrey's Earl Marriott Mariners in a B.C. AAA senior high school football league meeting at Percy Perry Stadium. The Cents are now knotted at 1-2 in Eastern Conference play with their rivals, the Terry Fox Ravens, who were tripped 21-7 at home Friday by the No. 1-ranked St. Thomas More Knights, who sit 3-0.
The Mariners slid to 0-3.
Nathan Lund and Lucas Naso keyed the Cents' attack with three touchdowns apiece. Naso finished with 158 yards on 10 carries, while Lund chewed up 93 yards on three rushes. Lund also returned a kick 85 yards for one of his majors.
Cole Milton darted for 148 yards on six carries and one touchdown, and also picked off a pass from his linebacker spot. Grade 10 defensive back Nick Okamoto also had an interception for Centennial.
The Mariners' lone touchdown came off an offensive miscue by the Cents. After forcing the Mariners to turn the ball over downs after a marathon stand-off in their red zone, the Cents took possession only to fumble the snap on their one-yard line which was recovered in the end zone by a Marriott defender. "Our defence did a phenomenal job," Piche added.
For Fox, Mark Casuga's 16-yard sprint early in the fourth quarter was all the squad could muster against a Knights, who scored two third-quarter touchdowns and, with the count 14-7, put the game out of reach on a long TD run later in the fourth. Marko Bevanda and Tyrel Ratich rallied the Fox defence with eight solo tackles apiece.
