Central Arkansas Christian quarterback Palmer Gilbrech completed 16 of 22 passes for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns, all in the first half, as the Mustangs opened the season with a 48-0 victory Friday over Mayflower on Mustang Mountain.
Sophomore running back Tyler Williams and senior Tyler Gentry each scored two touchdowns for CAC.
CAC Coach Tommy Shoemaker used mostly reserves in the second half.
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The victory provided a little revenge for CAC, which lost to the Eagles 59-35 to open the 2018 season.
"Tyler Williams and Gentry Miller are No. 1 and No. 2 when I'm calling the plays, and I wanted to get the ball to them tonight," Shoemaker said.
The Mustangs took control quickly. Facing a third down and needing 12 yards for a first, Gilbrech passed to Eli Jenkins for 17 yards.
Three plays later, Williams took a shotgun snap and outran the Mayflower defense for a 40-yard touchdown.
Mayflower registered negative yardage on its first possession, and a shanked punt put CAC in business at the 50. A 38-yard pass to Jenkins moved the ball to the 12.
Gilbrech passed 8 yards to Williams for an apparent touchdown, but it was negated by a holding call. Jenkins eventually kicked a 26-yard field goal, but a personal foul on Mayflower gave Shoemaker a decision to make. He decided to take the field goal off the scoreboard and try for more. Miller scored from 4 yards out for a 14-0 CAC lead.
Mayflower again couldn't move the ball and punted it away.
CAC's Miller finished off the first quarter by carrying the ball four times. Gilbrech completed two passes for 45 yards and Miller scored again, this time on an 8-yard pass from Gilbrech.
On Mayflower's first play of its next possession, CAC's Rhett James ran down quarterback Tayshun Mattison in the backfield, forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Mustangs' Jeremiah Wingfield at the Mayflower 27.
CAC needed one play to score when Eli Garrison caught a 27-yard pass from Gilbrech, giving the Mustangs a 27-0 lead.
"The defense played lights out tonight," Shoemaker said. "They played well in the scrimmage last week as well.
"We're not super big, but they can run and get to the ball quickly. We've gone through some rough times in the last two years, but this year we have a senior defense with experience."
After stopping Mayflower again, a punt put the Mustangs at their own 4. That didn't seem to bother Gilbrech, who passed to Jenkins for 30 yards and to Miller for 17 more. Two incompletions led to a third down, but Gilbrech passed to Williams, who took it 49 yards for the score and a 34-0 lead.
Mayflower picked up its initial first down of the game, excluding penalties, with 5:16 left in the second half, and it came on a 30-yard pass. But several incompletions, a holding penalty and an illegal touching penalty by an offensive lineman gave the ball back to CAC at its 27.
Gilbrech was 4 of 5 on the next drive that was helped by a face-mask penalty on Mayflower. The final score of the first half came on a 28-yard pass from Gilbrech to a wide-open Nathan Velek for a 41-0 lead at the half.
Sports on 08/31/2019