Centralia returned home for the first time since Week 1 on Friday night and trounced Jackson Heights 48-12 on homecoming night in a battle of unbeatens.

Maveryk Becker got the scoring started after stopping Jackson Heights on a 4th & short with the senior back going for a 31-yard touchdown half-way through the first quarter.

After stopping them on another fourth down, Becker found the endzone again with a 34-yard pass from junior quarterback Jacob Flentie to put the Panthers up 16-0 with a little over a minute remaining in the opening quarter.

Jackson Heights was able to respond with sophomore quarterback Drake Mellies getting a rushing score from the one-yard line, but they failed on their two-point conversion to make it 16-6.

Centralia was able to get down to the Jackson Heights’ ten-yard line on their next possession, but JW Moore was able to recover a fumble on a low snap to give the Cobras some life with a little over three minutes left in the half.

Unfortunately for the Cobras, they couldn’t do anything with it as they were turned away on yet another fourth down. This one came from their own 16-yard line on a 4th & 4, which was the turning point in this game.

The Panthers were able to convert on a 4th & 1 from the five-yard line with a Flentie rushing touchdown to go up 22-6 with 52 seconds left in the half.

Jackson Heights couldn’t do anything on their next drive and only took about 20 seconds off the clock, which gave the Panthers yet another chance to score before the break, and they did just that.

Flentie connected with Becker for a 42-yard gain to set them up at the 18-yard line. A holding penalty backed them up to the 28-yard line, but it didn’t matter because Becker was able to score on a screen pass by making multiple Cobra defenders miss and tightrope down the sideline to give Centralia a 28-6 lead at halftime.

Centralia got the ball first out of the break, and they took advantage with senior fullback Brody Grossnickle getting a one-yard rushing touchdown to go up 34-6.

Just a couple minutes into the fourth quarter, Flentie left the game with an apparent leg injury and freshman Quentin Alderfer led the Panthers to a pair of touchdowns.

Becker got his fourth score, and senior tight end Reese Tanking got a 23-yard rushing touchdown on his only touch of the game after Henry Heideman recovered a special teams fumble.

Mellies would get a 73-yard rushing touchdown to save his day statistically, but the Panthers were able to shut down the Cobras other than that one play.

If you take that game out of the equation, Centralia outgained Jackson Heights 446-101.

Flentie finished his day with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. He was also 4-for-5 with 104 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. He is the Player to Bank On brought to you by Farmers State Bank.

Becker was phenomenal as well with the senior getting 100 yards on the ground with two rushing touchdowns, and all 104 receiving yards with both receiving touchdowns.

Mellies led Jackson Heights in rushing yards with 126 on 25 carries and two touchdowns.

The Cobras fall to 4-1 and 1-1 in district play with 0 points, which puts them in a tie for second place with Riverside. They will hope to bounce back against Troy, who won handily against Maur Hill-Mount Academy in a non-district game on Friday.

As for Centralia, they improve to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in district play with 63 points and have the district just about wrapped up.

Next week they play a non-league and non-district game at home against the Garden Plain Owls. They will enter the game with a 4-1 overall record.