There was cause for concern heading into Centralia’s matchup in Macon on Friday.
The Panthers went in as top team in Class 2 and undefeated, but Macon had its best start through four games …
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There was cause for concern heading into Centralia’s matchup in Macon on Friday.
The Panthers went in as top team in Class 2 and undefeated, but Macon had its best start through four games since the last time it beat Centralia in 2022. The Panthers kept rolling, though, with a season-high 510 rushing yards and a 42-13 win at their Clarence Cannon Conference rival.
Ethan Ross finished with 206 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries, Oliver Bohlmeyer had 157 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries, Charlie Robinson added 85 yards on seven carries, and Cody Prater had 76 yards and one touchdown on two carries. Head coach Tyler Forsee said Centralia was hot from the start.
“We scored on our first two offensive plays,” Forsee said. “It was a nice way to start the game, getting a couple stops and scoring on the next particular play.”
The toughest task was to prepare for quarterback Talen Holman, according to Forsee. Holman is a big kid who has a good throwing arm and is tough to bring down when he runs. However, he finished with 83 passing yards and 54 rushing yards and a touchdown.
“The offense goes through him,” Forsee said. “He’s got some good receivers, too, but he’s got a cannon so our coverage had to really be on point. We had to try to get pressure on him but not let him outside the pocket either because he’s a big boy. He’s like a 230-pound fullback it seemed like.”
Forsee said Centralia wanted to limit the big play to respect Holman’s throwing arm. The Panthers came away with a couple of interceptions from Ross and Lucas Shuman and got sacks from Chris Brown and Carson Hill. Someone else deserves praise on the defense, Forsee said, despite not having a lot of stats.
“Cooper Gehring did an exceptional job in his coverage,” Forsee said. “We put him on their best receiver. I bet he ran five miles tonight as he ran all over the place.”
Centralia will have another tough quarterback to deal with at 7 p.m. Friday at home against conference rival Monroe City (3-2). Wyatt DeGrave was all-conference last year after leading Monroe City to the Class 2 state semifinals, and he has played the last two weeks after returning from injury. Monroe City outscored Clark County and Highland 92-24.
“They’re starting to get healthy,” Forsee said. “The DeGrave brothers (Wyatt and Wes) are going to be a handful for us. We’ll be able to score on them, but trying to get them off the field is not going to be an easy thing for us to do either.”
