How does one describe Thursday night's primetime Division I football clash between Hamilton and Centennial? Defensvie struggle? For a half. Offensive showcase? Most of the second half. Strange plays? Check.

In the end the winner was glad to come away with the W and this night that was Hamilton as the host Huskies outlasted Centennial, 34-27, at Jerry Loper Field.

Hamilton, which never trailed in the game, remained undefeated with the victory moving to 6-0 while Centennial dropped to 3-2 and had a three-game winning streak snapped.

The strange night began with the word Hamilton coach Steve Belles couldn't coach as he served a one-game suspension for being ejected from a freshman game earlier in the week.

It ended with Hamilton stopping Centennial on downs at the Hamilton 19 with less than a minute to play and the Huskies clinging to a 34-27 lead. Hamilton seemingly had the game put away three times, leading 14-0 then 28-7 midway through the third quarter and 34-20 with 5:51 left. Centennial somehow came up with plays -- big and bizarre -- to push Hamilton to the final minute.

There were eight touchdowns in the game -- scored by eight different players. Two fourth-quarter field goals by Hamilton's Dylan Brown of 47 and 44 yards were the only fourth-quarter points for the Huskies and proved big. From the 4:17 mark of the second quarter to the 4:57 mark of the third period the teams scored  48 of the contest's 61 points.

It was a game Hamilton could have won easily -- I think. The Huskies had great field position the entire first half, but came away with only 14 points -- thanks to an interception, missed field goal and a fumble 14 seconds before halftime that turned directly into a Centennial TD. Hamilton's dominance the first 24 minutes translated only to a 14-7 lead at intermission. The teams both had less than 100 yards of offense the first half (Hamilton 98 yards and Centennial 94). Hamilton's TDs in the first half came on a 2-yard run by Austin Lowe and a 16-yard return of a blocked punt by Ty Reynolds (the block was courtesty of Jaelon Parson).

The third period started an unexpected offensive avalanche. Hamilton scored on two Travis Lockhart TD passes of 73 and 44 yards to Kaleb Pitts and Jawhar Jordan, respectively to open up a 28-7 lead. This sucked the momentum from Centennial -- gained just as the first half ended when John Rincon scooped up a Lockhart fumble and raced 20 yards to the end zone. Lockhart was 5-for-15 for 46 yards in the first half and 4-for-10 for 139 yards in the second half. Pitts had three catches for 102 yards.

Given up for dead a second time, Centennial bounced back. Running back Quentin Gomez, bottled up the first half, found a huge hole and raced 69 yards for a TD to make it 28-14 with 5:09 left in the quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff Hamilton failed to gain control of a short kick that bounced pass the returners and was ultimately recovered at the Hamilton 5 by Centennial's Gage Franklin. Centennial quarterback Isaac Steele scored on the next play and with 4:57 to go in the third the Coyotes were back within eight after missing the extra point.

Brown's two fourth-quarter field goals boosted Hamilton's lead to 34-20 with 5:51 to play, but Centennial drove 72 yards in six plays capped by a Steele to Anthony Ramirez 31-yard TD strike with 4:12 left.

Centennial forced a punt and got the ball back at its 15 with 3:05 to work with. Steele completed three passes and ran for a first down on the drive that reached the red zone, but died with a fourth-down incompletion. Steele had a decent night, thanks to his second-half performance. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 155 yards and one TD.