Central Junior High coach Scott Petry did not know what to expect from his team when they took the field Sept. 5 for their home opener against the Patton Tigers.

One thing he most certainly did not expect was the offensive outburst his squad laid on the visitors.

The Mustangs used the first quarter barrage to rout the Tigers, 78-0.

The home team exploded for 36 points against the Tiger in the opening frame.

The Mustangs scored early in the game when quarterback Coulter Vestal connected with wide receiver Aundre Allen for a 35-yard touchdown pass. The two would later hook up on another touchdown pass.

By the end of the game, Allen contributed six touchdowns in the Mustangs’ win.

Allen caught two touchdown passes, ran for two scores, and returned two punts, both over 60 yards. One might think Allen was a one-man show at the game, but he thought his success was the result of a total team effort.

“The whole team is a one-man show,” Allen said. “We all work together.”

Teamwork is a necessity for Central. They have only 15 students out for football. And because they do not have many players on the team, they all must practice and play on both sides of the football. They must play other positions as well.

Allen was no exception.

He started the game at wide receiver, then moved to running back, and later saw action as the Mustangs third-string quarterback. But Allen said learning and playing other positions was not difficult.

“It’s fun,” Allen said. “We get to play a lot of different spots.”

On the other hand, playing football is something Vestal does not take for granted.

Vestal did not play last season due to a neck injury. Two years ago as a seventh-grader, Vestal sustained vertebrae fractures in his neck during a game. He missed the remainder of that season and had to sit out last year as well.

Vestal has had a long road to recovery and must take some precautionary measures on the field this year.

“The doctors gave me the clear,” Vestal said. “I just have to wear this neck brace. But I’m glad to be back out here.”

For his part in the win, Vestal threw three touchdown passes and ran for another.

Despite the long layoff, he did not look rusty at all. He ran the Mustangs’ shotgun offense smoothly and his passes were on target. Vestal also contributed on defense with some hard hits in the Tigers backfield.

“We pretty much dominated them,” Vestal said. “We all worked as a team and pulled together for our second win of the season.”

Winning their second game in as many weeks was all but a certainty at half-time. The Mustangs had a 64-0 lead and rumblings about a possible 100-point game began.

But Petry said the goal was not to put triple digits on the scoreboard and embarrass the visiting team. Instead, he told his team to continue to improve.

“In a situation like this you just gotta tell the kids to execute, run the offense,” Petry said. “And hopefully we’ll get better by doing that.”

Petry said he could relate to Patton’s situation because years ago he had coached in a game where his team was getting routed. He said in a blowout, such as the one delivered to Patton, you really just want to get out of there as soon as possible.

The Sept. 5 game was not called at the break, but the teams played the rest of the game with a continuous clock. The short half gave the Mustangs a little extra time to celebrate their win and also to prepare for their next game Thursday at Atchison, where Petry likes his team’s chances of winning on the road.

“I feel good about this group. I have from day one,” Petry said. “A lot of people look at us and think our numbers are really low. But the 15 players we got out there, those guys are good.”