Phoenix — In a clash of two 6A Metro division rivals on Friday night, the Central High Bobcats (1-2) behind senior running back Alonzo Cortes ran all over the Carl Hayden Falcons (0-3) en route to a 40-21 win. 

Central head coach Jon Clanton couldn’t have been happier with Cortes big game, especially since he’s new to football.  

“You always have to have a running game,” Clanton said. “He’s getting better and better, he’s never played football (before this year). His first year as a senior, just has to get better and better each game. I think his three touchdowns reflect that.” 

Cortes had his biggest night in a Bobcats uniform totaling over 150 yards on the ground including three scores.

“We carried out slow in the beginning but our offensive line kept its head together and opened up gaps for me,” Cortes said. 

Despite a relatively ugly start for both teams that saw six penalties in the first half leading to a combined 65 yards the Bobcats picked up their first win of the 2017 season.

While Clanton was happy with the win, he knew his football team wasn’t as sharp as they would have liked to be. 

“Sometimes football teams fold and bad things happen,” Clanton said. “We kept our composure though, I think we were the better team. Both sides of the ball were ugly in the first half. I think we left a lot of touchdowns off the board and it’s disappointing, but the end result was what we want.” 

One crucial penalty came early in the second quarter when Falcons senior running back Eric Baeza took off for a 75-yard touchdown, only to be brought back by a  holding call. 

Points had been tough to come by for the Bobcats as they had scored just seven points in their first two games combined, but on Friday night the Bobcats offense erupted for 40 points.

Central opened up the scoring when Cortes took a handoff 22 yards for a touchdown with 1:08 in the first quarter to give his team a 7-0 lead. 

After the Falcons tied up the game courtesy of a Baeza 43-yard touchdown run, Cortes answered. He rushed up the middle for a 5-yard go-ahead touchdown with just 17 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Bobcats a 14-7 lead. 

Andrew Taylor, the Bobcats sophomore quarterback, had a crucial 16-yard scramble on first and 20 that set up a Cortes touchdown run before the break. 

Cortes picked up right where he left off in the third quarter with a 64-yard touchdown run on the second play of the third quarter, and a missed extra point kept the score 20-7 Bobcats. 

Central’s blocking gave Cortes lanes to run all night long and he did the rest.

“It started with our offensive line,” senior center Million Williams said. “We just had to maintain our blocks so Alonzo could bounce it to the outside in space.”  

Senior wide receiver Escalera added on three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving with both coming in the second half, giving the Bobcats a nice cushion. 

“Well my (offensive) line was doing great and I was reading the blocks well and just trying to get into the end zone,” Escalera said.

The Bobcats defense made yards on the ground tough to come by for the Falcons, finishing with over 10 tackles for loss. 

The Bobcats won despite the absence junior captain and defensive end Casey Clanton who suffered a concussion in Central’s loss to Dobson last Friday. 

“It’s always good to get a win,” Clanton said. “Obviously whenever you lose two in a row, it’s good to get a win. We scored 40 tonight when we scored nothing last week.” 

Although Central got a big first win, Clanton is already looking to next week. 

“We want South Mountain,” Clanton explained. “I really hope they won tonight and are 4-0, so they can come here and get their first loss.”