ROARING SPRING - No high school football game is ever really "easy."
The kids train hard and are usually ready for whatever challenge comes their way, win or lose.
But as Central kept finding the end zone in the first quarter of Friday night's matchup with Penns Valley, things certainly felt ... kind of easy.
The Scarlet Dragons were led on the night by junior running back Bradi Moore, who scored three times in the first period - on runs of 5 and 21 yards and on a 17-yard pass from quarterback Austin Cunningham. Moore finished the game with four touchdowns, 117 yards rushing and 42 yards receiving.
Central was hardly a one-man show, however. Moore was one of three Scarlet Dragons to notch at least 85 yards rushing, as coach Dave Baker's team racked up more than 500 total yards on their way to a 42-7 Mountain League victory.
"I think that we controlled the game from the line of scrimmage," Baker said. "Our team was good tonight, and they played well."
Central (3-1, 2-1) looked so dominant in the first quarter, in fact, that they slacked off a bit in the second. That letdown led to Rams quarterback Cameron Tobias passing for almost 100 yards and a touchdown in the quarter. It was something Baker addressed in the post-game huddle.
"We were just after guys to make sure they played consistently all the time," he said. "No matter what the score is. [Penns Valley] played hard. You have to give them credit, but we were the better team tonight."
The Scarlet Dragons defense held much stronger in the second half, however, giving up just 50 yards in the final two quarters. In total, Central allowed only 209 yards of total offense.
Penns Valley coach Marty Tobias was blunt about his team's performance.
"Central's a really good football team," he said. "They're bigger and they're better up front than we were. They put pressure on us and took away the run game."
The Rams came into the game 0-3 and knew they were facing "an uphill battle" against the Scarlet Dragons. But despite several early season blowout losses, Tobias is still looking for his team to get better through the year.
"There are always teachable moments," he said. "We're going to work on keeping our heads up and improving and controlling the things that we can control."
Central, whose lone loss came last week in a one-point heartbreaker to Clearfield, will travel next week to Bald Eagle Area, to face the 4-0 Eagles.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penns Valley0 7 0 0 - 7
Central28 7 7 0 - 0
First quarter
C-Moore 5 rush (Helsel kick), 9:10.
C-Moore 17 pass from Cunningham (Helsel kick), 6:51.
C-Conrath 1 rush (Helsel kick), 4:04.
C-Moore 21 rush (Helsel kick), :52.
Second quarter
C- Cunningham 11 rush (Helsel kick), 3:51.
PV-I. Brown 11 pass from Tobias (Deardorff kick), 1:05.
Third quarter
C-Moore 8 rush (Helsel kick), 4:35.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Penns Valley-Tobias 3-0, Collison 3-(-1), Hook 7-27, Rowles 5-12, Fegley 3-10, Bitsko 2-13, Treaster 2-7. Central-Cunningham 8-86, Moore 12-117, Conrath 3-29, Hoenstine 6-29, Slick 6-92, Emerick 2-11, Mock 1-0, Weyant 2-27.
PASSING: Penns Valley-Tobias 14-21-0-141, Johnson 0-1-0-0. Central-Cunningham 8-11-1-117.
RECEIVING: Penns Valley-I. Brown 6-64, Weaver 3-50, Collison 1-8, Koser 2-12, Hook 1-5, Ulmanic 1-2. Central-Moore 3-42, Brumbaugh 3-63, Hoenstine 1-4, Forshey 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS: Penns Valley-Weaver. Central-none.
TEAM STATISTICSPVC
First downs1221
Rushes-yards25-6840-391
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)14-22-08-11-1
Yards passing141117
Total yards209508
Fumbles-lost1-11-0
Penalties-yards7-605-55
Punts-avg.3-320-0
