Central beats Centennial with passing, running games

Kaufman's 63-yard punt return gives Rams lead in 38-28 win

By Jason Vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, Sep 24, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Central Catholic had some early trouble with Centennial's triple-option offense, but the Rams took the lead on Gerald Kaufman's third-quarter, 63-yard punt return and beat the Eagles 38-28 in Mt. Hood Conference football action Friday night at PGE Park.

Central's Luke Onderko had 13 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns, including a 38-yard TD run right after the Kaufman punt return. Quarterback Derek Bowen went 16 of 23 for 206 yards and two scores to receiver Seth Downes, who had 10 catches for 94 yards.

The Rams moved to 3-1 with a win in their Mt. Hood opener.

"We're getting better," coach Steve Pyne says. "We're starting to figure some things out. We're still not a real smart football team, but we're getting better."

Centennial (0-4), led by quarterback Kyle Saechao, scored on its first three possessions to lead 21-14 in the first half. Saechao led the option game, which bedeviled the Rams in the early going.

He threw an 11-yard scoring strike to Tony Ruppert and added two 4-yard TD runs. But Central shored up some assignments, switched up some line play to free up defenders and played more physically from then on.

"We have a good backfield with Kevin Bannister and David Thames as the lead blocker, and our line is quick, and it makes the option easy for us," says the 5-8, 145-pound Saechao, who ran for 84 yards on 15 carries and completed 12 of 17 passes for 170 yards.

"We knew they would adjust to our offense, and we had to mix up our schemes and play ball," he adds. "They stuck to their assignments and played well."

The Rams closed to within 21-20 by halftime. A bad punt snap and a bobble by Centennial punter Kevin Miller gave Central the ball at the Eagles 21. Bowen hit Downes for a 26-yard touchdown, and the extra-point kick went wide.

But the Rams stopped the Eagles on the opening drive of the second half, and then Kaufman fielded the punt and ran for the go-ahead score. A two-point conversion made it 28-21.

"We had a lot of good blocking, and it turned out the way I wanted," he says. Kaufman got greedy on the next punt return, taking it on the bounce and then fumbling. "I was hyped," he adds.

It didn't hurt Central and neither did Jordan Perry's interception on the next drive, as the defensive stood tall. The 5-11, 220 Onderko, who had a 57-yard run on the first drive, burst through the line and ran 38 yards for the score to make it 35-21.

He's a big boy who has some wheels.

"Gotta give credit to the offensive line, because I went through untouched," he says. "An offensive lineman could have run through that hole."

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