By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
CLOVIS, Calif. – The Centennial Huskies made it obvious Friday that they are ready to make a return trip to the CIF championship game.
Despite losing outstanding players like quarterback Matt Scott and all-state running back Ryan Bass, along with most of last year’s offensive line, from last year’s state Division 1 runner-up squad, the Huskies are off to a 3-0 start, including a win last week over Mater Dei and Friday night’s impressive 42-7 demolishing of the Clovis West Eagles.
Even more impressive, the Huskies played without All-American linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who sat out the game for disciplinary reasons. The absences were hardly noticeable, however, as the Huskies dominated from start to finish, scoring five times in the first half en route to the win.
First-year quarterback Taylor Martinez was particularly effective, throwing for 279 yards in the first half including five touchdown passes. A transfer from Cajon, Martinez has shown steady improvement since the first game of the season.
“He’s learning our scheme and he’s getting more comfortable,” said Centennial coach Matt Logan. “The receivers made some great plays on a couple of those touchdowns, but he put the ball in a position for them to make the catch.”
Martinez’s big first half was a departure from Centennial’s normal strategy of establishing the run first.
“We felt we had some mismatches so we wanted to exploit those,” said Logan. “Plus with the long trip we had to make, we felt it was important for us to get out on top early.”
The Huskies opened up the playbook on the first play of the game with Martinez hitting Ricky Marvray on a fade pass for a 34-yard gain. Ten plays later, the Huskies were in the end zone on a 21-yard pass to Geshun Harris.
The first series of the game took 11 plays and nearly four minutes to complete. The Huskies were much more efficient the rest of the way. Centennial’s next four scoring drives took a total of 12 plays combined.
The defense played a big role in helping set up the offensive explosion. Despite the absence of Burfict, the Huskies got strong play from linebackers Brandon Holder and Adam Hollick along with Will Sutton and Anthony Whitlow on the defensive line.
“The defensive line did a great job, but they’ve done a great job all season,” said Logan.
While Clovis West ran 35 plays in the first half, it was unable to get into the end zone. Part of the reason was three sacks by Whitlow. Another reason was a blocked punt by Sutton and a third was an interception by Anthony Goodman.
The Huskies got their second score of the game midway through the first period when Martinez hit Marvray down the sideline for a 57-yard score.
Following Goodman’s interception midway through the second quarter, Martinez hooked up with Harris for a 38-yard touchdown. Martinez faked the option run on the play and stepped back to loft the pass to a wide open Harris.
The Husky defense forced another Eagle punt and Martinez needed just one play to get into the end zone. This time he found Marvray for a 55-yard touchdown with 3:43 left in the half.
When Sutton blocked a punt on Clovis West’s next drive, Martinez led the offense on a two-play scoring drive. First he hit Nick Beasley over the middle for a 29-yard gain. Then it was a 20-yard pass to Harris for the score. Although the pass was underthrown, Harris adjusted on the route and made the catch in front of the defender in the end zone.
Centennial went to the running game much of the second half with Anthony Burns doing most of the work. He finished with 116 yards on 19 carries.
Centennial added its final touchdown with 5:44 left in the fourth quarter. With the second string running the offense, Beasley scored on a sweep from 8 yards out. Trevor Romaine added his sixth extra point of the day for a 42-0 advantage.
The Eagles avoided the shutout on the legs of quarterback Jeff Tuel. The Clovis West signal caller had a 31-yard run to start the drive and he ended it with a 30-yard jaunt with 2:20 remaining.
Martinez finished 12 for 17 for 293 yards and five scores while Tuel completed 11 of 21 for 97 yards. He also carried 14 times for 71 yards. Marvray led the Husky receiving corps with three catches for 146 yards and two scores.
The Huskies begin league play next week, opening against Corona. Centennial is part of the newly-formed Big 8, which includes three teams from the former Ivy League, J.W. North, Riverside Poly and Martin Luther King. The members of the defunct Mountain View League – Norco, Santiago, Corona and Centennial – make up the rest of the league along with newcomer Roosevelt of Corona.
Clovis West, which fell to 1-2 following two straight losses to Southern Section schools, including a 35-21 defeat against Servite three weeks ago, has tough nonleague tests against Bullard next week and Edison on Oct. 10 before entering County-Metro Athletic Conference play against Central on Oct. 17.