Centennial breezes by Bonanza

Centennial sophomore quarterback Colton Tenney led a balanced offense with 231 yards passing and 87 yards rushing as the Bulldogs clinched a playoff spot with a convincing win a 51-6 home win over Bonanza on Friday night.

The Bengals actually struck first after marching 80 yards on the opening drive of the game. Quarterback Kyle Allison plunged in from 3 yards out to give the Bengals the early lead.

Then it was all Bulldogs (6-3, 4-2 Northwest League) for the rest of the night. Tenney raced 37 yards on Centennial’s first running play from scrimmage, and Jordan Smith scored the first of his three touchdowns less than a minute later.

“We have a lot of talent,” said Tenney. “I’ve started to learn my role, and we have some explosive players.”

Smith is one of them. His 55-yard touchdown run in the second half was his third of the game and 12th of the season.

“We did not take this game lightly, but when they scored first, we knew it was time to strap in and focus,” Smith said. “Fifty-one points, that was the plan today.”

Centennial was relentless as Bonanza struggled with poor field position, penalties, a safety and turnovers, Smith ran for 95 yards. Tenney completed 10 of 17 passes, finding Aaron Johnson and Elijah Chianese for touchdowns.

“After the Faith game (a 36-7 loss), we set a goal of getting to the playoffs,” Centennial coach Dustin Forshee said. “We have won out since then and now we have some momentum as we look ahead to the playoffs.”

In addition to putting up a lot of points, Centennial’s defense has also posted three shutouts.

“I think our defense is one of the best in the state,” Forshee said. “It’s not just one guy. We have four linebackers that do a a great job, the secondary is phenomenal and tonight the defensive line did a great job. The defense has been our linchpin all year long.”

The Bulldogs forced three turnovers and blocked one kick tonight. Kamden Garrett and Jake Sarabia intercepted passes, and Troy Miller recovered a fumble.

Bonanza (2-7, 0-5) was led by Zion McGower who rushed 17 times for 69 yards.