The first drive didn’t go the way Centennial senior quarterback Isaac Belinske-Strauss and his teammates wanted it to Friday night.
But things picked up considerably from there.
Belinske-Strauss rushed for three 1-yard touchdowns as the Cougars – ranked No. 7 in the state in Class 6A – rolled past 10th-ranked Champlin Park 31-10 at Champlin Park High School in a battle of two teams that each entered the night 2-0.
Centennial fumbled the ball away at the Champlin Park 29 on its first possession.
After that, though, Belinske-Strauss and his offense were tough to stop. The Cougars took a 7-0 lead on the quarterback’s first touchdown run on the opening play of the second quarter.
Centennial then expanded that margin to 10 when senior Justin Driver drilled a 50-yard field goal. The Rebels cut the gap to 10-3 when junior Trace Fitzgerald connected on a 21-yard field goal of his own.
But the Cougars scored on a 24-yard scoring strike from Belinske-Strauss to senior Calvin Coppersmith that made the score 17-3 with 1:33 remaining in the first half.
Belinske-Strauss had 11 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown in the first two quarters of play.
Centennial again fumbled the ball away at the Rebels’ 17 on the opening drive of the second half.
But its next possession ended on another 1-yard Belinske-Strauss touchdown run. So did the one that followed that, which started on the Champlin Park 1 after a high snap on a Rebels’ punt attempt.
Champlin Park junior Preston Nelson scored on a 22-yard touchdown run with 9:37 to play to cut the gap to 31-10. The Rebels then drove into Centennial territory on its next possession before turning the ball over on downs at the Cougars’ 40.
And from there, Centennial ran out the clock.
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