The Central High School varsity football team has been winning games, but Chargers Head Coach Will Thomas did not see it put together a complete game until Friday night against host Prince Edward County High School. The product of strong play on offense and defense from the Chargers was a 49-20 blowout win against the Eagles.

“I thought we played pretty well last night,” Thomas said Saturday. “Probably our best game yet.”

Central piled up 454 yards of total offense, including 415 on the ground.

“Offensively, they couldn’t stop us,” Thomas said.

The one pass completed by the Chargers ended up being a 39-yard touchdown from Malik Foster to Keenan Anunay.

Central achieved all of this production despite playing without its top rushers this season — Dashawn Moore and Malcolm Brown. They did not make the trip with the team to the game, and Thomas declined to comment further.

Foster returned from a knee injury in Central’s Sept. 9 game against Randolph-Henry, playing only a handful of plays against the Statesmen, but he handled an increased workload well against Prince Edward, gaining 152 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries.

Anunay was also key, carrying the ball 16 times for 135 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles actually took the first lead of the game, 6-0 via a 70-yard touchdown pass on the first series of the contest. But the Chargers responded with a drive capped off by a Foster 5-yard touchdown run and a Ben Atkins extra point that gave them a 7-6 lead.

Central went up 14-6 before the second quarter following a 5-yard scoring run by Anunay.

Tylik Thomas of the Chargers caught an interception and returned it approximately 60 yards, but Central’s offense could not score.

Anunay also recorded an interception, after which the Chargers scored early in the second quarter off of a 1-yard run by Foster.

On the ensuing kickoff, Central executed a pooch kick, and Ben Spencer recovered it, setting up another 5-yard touchdown run by Foster.

Shortly before halftime came Foster’s scoring toss to Anunay that helped make the score 35-6 at the break.

The Chargers added to their lead early in the third quarter through a 20-yard scoring run by Foster, and then Coach Thomas pulled his starters.

“A lot of kids got to play, so I think that was really good,” the coach said.

Among the standouts was Quazale Jones, who Thomas said recovered a couple of onside kicks. Dontae Crowder scored Central’s final touchdown on a five-yard run.

Chris Fowler led the Chargers defense with eight tackles, and Raymond Alexander had six tackles and one blocked extra point.

On Friday at 7 p.m., Central (3-1) hosts Buckingham County High School (1-3), which is fresh off its first win of the season.

“They’re tough,” Thomas said. “They’ve got a lot of athletes. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re well-coached. I’ve been here for nine years, we’ve beat them once, so it’s going to be a battle.”