The outlook wasn't good at halftime for the Centennial football team Aug. 26.
The Broncos trailed North Bend Central 19-7. The Tigers scored on two big plays in the first quarter – a 51-yard pass play and a 52-yard punt return – and then added a three-yard run with 1:40 to play in the second quarter.
“We played sloppy early,” CHS Coach Evan Klanecky said. “We had a couple bad breaks. They extended two drives on quarterback scrambles for first downs.”
Klanecky and his team had “a pretty real conversation” in the locker room at halftime, he said.
“The kids responded,” he said. “I don’t care if you’re Centennial or Alabama, to come back from two scores down is pretty good.”
The Broncos cut into the lead with 3:16 to play in the third on a six-yard run by senior quarterback Maj Nisly, his second touchdown of the game. John Fehlhafer kicked his second point after to make the score 19-14.
Nisly scored again with 6:18 to play in the fourth on a two-yard run. He found Levi Zimmer in the endzone for the two-point conversion and a 22-19 lead.
“We were able to find our stride,” Klanecky said. “We found some stuff that works.”
As the clock wound down, North Bend put together one final drive. The Bronco defense held the Tigers out of the endzone, and the offense was able to run out the clock for the win.
He said the Broncos won the war of attrition and attributed that to Coach Drew Rodine, who has been in charge of team conditioning.
Klanecky said there are still areas to clean up for week two. The outside run game didn’t work and the passing game sputtered against North Bend.
“There was no panic,” the coach said. “They stayed the course.”
Nisly finished the game with 121 yards rushing on 32 carries. Jarrett Dodson and Breckin Schoepf split the running back duties.
Klanecky was pleased with Elijah Utter’s play. The senior got his first start at center and had a good game. He also intercepted a North Bend pass, which was a major play in the game.
Junior wide-out Alex Hirschfeld was the scout team player of the week.
CHS is on the road Friday, Sept. 2, to play Tekamah-Herman. As of Aug. 27, Klanecky said he hadn’t watched any film on the Tigers yet. TH lost to Cedar Catholic 50-8 in its season opener.
“It’s fun and nerve-wracking to play a new team,” Klanecky said.
