BETHALTO — Centralia opened its Cahokia Conference schedule with a 49-7 victory over Civic Memorial on Friday night at Hauser Field, using four touchdowns from Ja’Shawn Staples and a strong second half to pull away.
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Civic Memorial played without starting quarterback Luke Clouser, who was out with an illness. Sophomore Jake Truetzshler stepped in after learning Clouser was unavailable.
“This changed things dramatically for us, losing Clouser mid-week, but we have to have a next man up mentality, and I could not be more proud of Jake and our guys for rallying around him and supporting him, and we played a really good first half of football,” CM coach Nick Smith said.
Centralia Orphans at CM Eagles Football
The Eagles took an early lead on their opening drive. Grandy Farrell scored on a 4-yard run to put CM ahead 7-0. Centralia answered in the first quarter when Staples scored on a 22-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7.
Civic Memorial’s defense held Centralia to one touchdown in the second quarter. Will Stanton scored on a 2-yard run to give the Orphans a 14-7 halftime lead.
Centralia took control after halftime. Kenny Bratton returned a punt 35 yards for a touchdown, and Staples added his second score after recovering a fumble and returning it 40 yards near the end of the third quarter, giving Centralia a 28-7 lead.
The Orphans added three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Stanton scored his second touchdown on another 2-yard run, and Staples closed the game with touchdown runs of 82 and 4 yards.
Centralia improved to 2-0 with its second straight 49-point performance. Civic Memorial dropped to 1-1.
