Offense explodes as Centennial nabs season’s first win

Centennial’s Jordan Smith rushed for 207 yards and three second-half touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter that broke open a tie game.

With the game tied entering the fourth quarter, Smith had touchdown runs of 21 and 24 yards to give the Bulldogs (1-7, 1-5 Northwest League) a two-score advantage. Palo Verde then threw an interception in the end zone on its comeback attempt, and Payton Moody finished the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left on the clock.

It was Palo Verde (4-5, 2-4) though that started the scoring, doing so with a pair of Chamere Thomas 2-yard touchdown runs. Two Centennial touchdowns and a Palo Verde field goal left the Panthers up 16-14, the last time they would hold the lead.

The Bulldogs ended the half with an Ethan Hair 22-yard field goal as time expired to take a 17-16 lead into halftime.

Smith scored the first of his touchdowns to open the second-half scoring, then Thomas ran his third score of the game to tie it up again. That tie would last one play, as Centennial’s Tyree Jefferson hauled in a Vlad Plotnikov pass and ran 77 yards for a touchdown. However, the Panthers would again answer, and again, it was Thomas, who brought in his first receiving touchdown of the game for 24 yards.

Plotnikov threw for 317 yards and two scores on the day for Centennial.

Thomas rushed for 120 yards and accounted for all four Palo Verde touchdowns.