There were new faces in the Huskies’ starting lineup, but there were also plenty of new faces for a spirited Central Mountain team looking to build on its three-win season from last year and get revenge for its last two season-opening games against the Huskies.

Despite a strong early performance by the Wildcats, the night belonged to the Huskies, who defeated Central Mountain 42-6.

“I just told the team that there are a few different plays that just went wrong. They have a pick-6, we throw an interception and one gets returned to the 6-yard line,” said Central Mountain coach Travis Thompson. “A few things are going wrong, we can’t afford to give them short field position. We have to be able to play properly. We struggled with some injuries early on. At this point the game plan changes.”

“We tried to get the running game going early and missed a few things, a little bit of nerves in the first game. I think they got a little carried away,” said Breon. “We started seeing what they were doing, how they were reacting, and we started calling plays that we could make. I was really pleased with the performance of our receivers and quarterbacks. We have some talented guys, and I think people are going to start to realize that.”

TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Central Mountain will face Mifflin County on Friday at Mill Hall.

Fletcher Wilson made a strong impression in his quarterback debut for the Huskies, completing 11 of 15 passes for 175 yards and four touchdowns.

Both defenses came into play strongly at the beginning of the first half and did not allow a single point for much of the first quarter.

Mifflin County’s defense made the first big play of the game when Cyrell Green got in front of a Central Mountain receiver and worked his way downfield for a 40-yard touchdown pass on a pick-6. Green had two interceptions on the night, leading his team.

Brendon Noerr’s kick gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead with 3:14 minutes left in the stanza.

The Huskies’ passing attack picked up pace in the second quarter as Wilson found his receivers and totaled 172 yards on throws and three passing touchdowns in the first half.

TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Central Mountain will face Mifflin County on Friday at Mill Hall.

The first goal came when Wilson found Dupree Reed on the run for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Another kick from Noerr extended the Huskies’ lead to 14 with 10:35 left in the half.

“The nervousness in the first quarter is always there. It was the first time on the field and the first time I started.” said Wilson. “Our team was in a really good mood after the first few runs. I’m really happy that we were able to do what we wanted to do out there today.”

On the ensuing kick, special teams made a crucial play for the Huskies, forcing the Wildcats to fumble. Avery Aurand recovered the ball, putting Mifflin County back on offense deep in Central Mountain territory.

Wilson completed his second touchdown pass of the night, finding Landon Haigh for a 22-yard touchdown. The Huskies led 21-0 with 9:42 minutes left.

Wilson hit Green with a 20-yard touchdown pass to give the Huskies a 28-0 lead with 5:29 left in the half.

The young Wildcat team came out strong in the second half. They held the Huskies defense in check and forced Noerr to punt. Noerr hit a bullseye that was stopped at the Central Mountain two.

However, an 88-yard run by Kole Corman gave the Wildcats their only touchdown.

On the third attempt and goal, Central Mountain fullback Dalton McDermott shot the ball into the goal from four meters away. After a blocked kick, the score was 28:6.

The Huskies’ offense came back. Wilson threw his last touchdown with a short 3-yard touchdown to Aurand. The Noerr kick gave the Huskies a 35-6 lead after 1:50 minutes.

The Huskies turned the quarterback duties over to Chase Hartung. Hartung did not disappoint as he found Haigh for a 70-yard pass to extend the Huskies’ lead to 42-6 on the final play of the third quarter, sending the game into the mercy rule phase of the game.

“We knew we were going to be young, but we got even younger in a very short time, so it was a big revelation for some of our guys,” added coach Thompson. “Next week we play in Bloomsburg and hope we can recover and make it.”