Photo Credit: Jeff Stead/PrepsKC 
They shot off fireworks Friday night at Pleasant Hill’s Eklund Stadium – a nice display during Senior Night ceremonies before the game and a booming finale afterward.
In between, Center provided most of the pyrotechnics.
In a matchup of state-ranked and unbeaten MRVC West teams, Center flexed its firepower early and often and rolled to a surprisingly easy 53-27 victory, surprising mainly in that there was little Pleasant Hill could do to stop the onslaught.
Center, 8-0 overall, 5-0 in the MRVC West and ranked No. in Class 4, had its way from the beginning, thanks mainly to the running of Jacorey Love and the arm of quarterback Joseph Vick. Love a junior, scored four touchdowns on a dazzling array of runs. Vick, a senior, threw two TD passes and guided a Yellowjacket offense that scored on five of its first six possessions.
“We trusted what we put in practice all week,” Vick said. “We trusted the game plan and it just followed through.”
Abundant speed and athleticism have been hallmarks for Center all season, and Yellowjackets coach Bryan DeLong knew his team would have an advantage in both over Pleasant Hill. But even DeLong seemed taken aback at how his team manhandled the Roosters (7-1 and 5-1), who came in ranked No. 2 in Class 3.
“We always feel our athleticism will be an advantage for us,” DeLong said. “Jacorey is really fast, but we feel like our team speed, just as a whole … everybody gets the ball pretty good and we think that’s an advantage for us.”
Pleasant Hill actually drew first blood, taking a 7-0 lead on a 19 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Roe Easton to wide receiver Starlin Kole on the game’s opening drive with the help of a fumbled Center punt return.
Center needed only two plays to pull within 7-6 on Vick’s first TD pass, a 59-yarder to wideout DeAndre Pruitt. Love capped Center’s next drive with his first TD on a 3-yard run, and he scampered in from 14 yards out early in the second quarter.
“Once my lineman got to doing what they have been doing the past couple of weeks, I knew I was going to have a good game,” Love said.
Center seemed stopped on its next drive when an illegal block in the back penalty and a sack by Pleasant Hill lineman Brody Kohler turned the Yellowjackets’ first and goal at the Roosters’ 8-yard line to a fourth and goal at the 23.
No problem. Vick threw a short pass over the middle to Armand Russell, who tossed the ball back to K.D. Williams for an easy score and a 26-7 lead.
Center’s streak ended when Pleasant Hill’s Keaton Odle picked off a Vick pass, and the Roosters, who went three-and-out on their four possessions after the opening TD, looked back in the game after Roe scrambled for a 35-yard TD run that made it 26-13.
But back came the Yellowjackets, this time with a 7-yard TD by Love 17 seconds before halftime. And Pleasant Hill, which had been averaging 46.6 points per game, found itself down 32-14 at the break.
“We knew they were fast,” Pleasant Hill coach Justin Hamilton said. “We thought we had a really good game plan but you watched that running back tonight and there were times we were there and all of a sudden we weren’t. He does things that you can’t coach a kid to do.”
And Love kept doing those things in the third quarter, scoring TDs on runs of 24 and 8 yards. Dirac Tsafack tacked on the Yellowjackets final score on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Pleasant Hill scored twice in the second half on Cody Parker’s 25-yard interception return in the third quarter and Brayden Bush’s 37-yard run in the fourth.
But this night would belong to a Yellowjackets team that dazzled from start to finish.
“It’s a special group,” DeLong said. “I’m blessed to coach them.”
