Jordan Smith, defense star for Centennial in shutout victory

Centennial running back Jordan Smith needed all of a half to establish a single-game personal best with three touchdowns.

The fourth was just for good measure.

The speedy junior rushed for 80 yards, three touchdowns and caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in a 36-0 televised home win over Legacy on Thursday night. Smith earned game Most Valuable Player honors — though Centennial’s defense was equally as impressive — and celebrated with his teammates and student section after the game.

Rival Arbor View awaits in two weeks. But Smith is focused on the now.

“We really enjoy these kind of nights,” he said. “I really think we have a lot more to do. I think we’re underrated and a lot of people should be watching out.”

Point taken.

The Bulldogs (2-1) were one of the worst Class 4A teams in Las Vegas last year, limping to a 1-7 record in the uber-competitive Northwest League. But they’ve since retooled around Smith, a sturdy defense and sophomore quarterback Colton Tenney.

And all of them played starring roles on Thursday night.

Smith scored three times in a seven-minute span during the second quarter and caught his touchdown in the third. Tenney was poised in throwing for 112 yards and the score. The defense forced three turnovers — including an interception return for a touchdown by Davone Walden — and held the Longhorns (1-2) to 58 yards of total offense without injured starting quarterback Evan Olaes, who exited in the first quarter.

“We’ve got a lot of upperclassmen on that defense and we’ve got a lot of talented players that came back from last year,” Bulldogs coach Dustin Forshee said. “We’ve kind of built on that.”

Centennial is idle next week and will have two weeks to prepare for the No. 3 Aggies, who have rolled through out-of-state competition thus far.

Forshee and company are looking forward to the challenge.

“Last year was tough, to kind of break that (losing) stigma” Forshee said. “We kind of keep that in the back of those kids’ minds, and a lot of kids that played varsity last year didn’t want to see (those same struggles).”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.