Central High School’s varsity football team started the 2018 season 0-3, but for homecoming Friday night, the host Chargers won their fourth consecutive game to push themselves above .500, handing a 49-12 defeat to Randolph-Henry High School.

“We moved the ball pretty well, I thought,” Central Head Coach Will Thomas said.

He was particularly pleased with how Trey Patterson III started the ballgame, returning the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown.

“It’s the first one we’ve run back in a while,” Thomas said.

He noted the Chargers were able to score again to build on that early lead, but he was sure to give credit to the Statesmen.

“Randolph-Henry, they played pretty hard,” he said. “They came back and made a game of it, played pretty hard, right there before halftime ended up making it 21-12. And they were moving the ball really well on us, but we stopped them in the second half. Our defense stepped up, and we kind of put it away somewhat early.”

Leading the Chargers on defense was Geontra Ragdale with 17 total tackles. This included three solo tackles and three tackles for a loss. He also had a fumble recovery and a pass defensed.

Thomas highlighted some of the key contributors on offense that helped Central pull away in the second half.

“Daquan Lee had a good run, had several good runs,” the coach said. “He was the leading rusher that night, Friday night, and (we) even had some (junior varsity) kids step up, played hard,” like freshman Hunter Lacks.

Lee finished with six carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns. T’Zion Wilkerson had 12 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Ben Anthony had two carries for four yards and two touchdowns and Patterson also had three carries for 28 yards.

With this victory, Central moves to 4-3 on the season. Commenting on how it felt to be above .500, Thomas said, “Pretty good. Not bad. … We’re moving in the right direction. I think we’ve got three tough games coming up, though. That’s going to be tough.”

The Chargers host Prince Edward County High School (3-3) next Friday at 7 p.m.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” Thomas said. “They’re fast, and we’re not, which we don’t match up sometimes with those type players that are super fast, so we have our work cut out for us.”

The Eagles’ key weapons include senior running backs Rahme Marshall, J’Sean Dupuy and Jarrel Robinson and senior wide receiver Rah’Quan Payne.