The Central Tigers went through the host Mounds Golden Eagles like a hot knife through butter Thursday night, dominating in a 52-6 road win and snapping a three-game losing streak.
The Tigers (4-3 overall, 1-3 in District AII-3) scored nearly every time they touched the ball while their defense kept the Eagles (0-7, 0-4) out of the end zone until the starters rested in the fourth quarter.
Ryker Miller scored five touchdowns with 182 yards on 17 carries, and Gavin Randolph took a punt return back for a TD while scoring another in receiving.
Kage Poindexter led in receiving with two catches for 43 yards. Kiefer Bailey connected on 80 percent of his passes, going 8-for-10 for 133 yards and a touchdown.
“We were starting to really click on the offensive side,” Central coach Jeremy Thompson said. “I’ve been pretty happy defensively all year, and that continues to get better. We’re clicking at the right time. We’ve got three games left in the district, and we’ve got to keep it rolling. We just got to keep getting better.
“Ryker Miller has ran the ball extremely well all year. He’s a senior, and he had five touchdowns. He’s an extremely tough kid who just works his tail off, and I’m proud of him. I want to put the ball in his hands. Aiden Smith is doing a good job sitting there behind him. We had a lot of receivers catch the ball. Kage Poindexter came up big for us on several downs. Gavin (Randolph) has been big all year for us, but we had a lot of guys — Joe Brooks, Gavin or Kage Poindexter — who came up big. So getting those guys more involved is important.”
Miller scored his first two TDs on runs of 6 and 1 yards in the first quarter to make it a 13-0 game by the end of the first quarter. Central missed the extra point on the second score.
The Tigers then tripled their lead to 39-0 by halftime, often having good field position starting past midfield.
During the secondquarter onslaught, Bailey threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Randolph, then Miller scored his third TD of the game, his second from a yard out. Having missed the PAT on its two previous TDs, Central elected to go for the 2-point conversion and was successful as Randolph caught the pass from Bailey, and it was 27-0.
Miller and Randolph scored the next two TDs again, respectively. Miller scored his fourth touchdown of the night from 23 yards out, and Randolph fielded a punt and took it 32 yards to the house. Both extrapoint tries failed.
The Tigers picked up their last two TDs in the third quarter, a 4-yard run from Miller with Randolph kicking in the extra point, and Kaw-Liga Lewis ran in from six yards out.
Mounds got its only score in the fourth quarter.
The Central defense yielded just 80 yards from the Eagles and forced two turnovers.
“Most of the year, the secondary is playing better, and they’re getting involved more in the run game,” Thompson said. “That’s a big deal. It takes all 11 (players) on defense, so we just have to continue what we’re doing and see how it falls at the end.”
Next for Central will be its Senior Night home game against the Allen Mustangs at 7 p.m. this Friday at Tiger Stadium.
