Not even a 1-hour, 47-minute lightning delay was able to disrupt the Cape Central football team’s focus in Friday night’s home opener.

In fact, it might’ve even helped the Tigers.

Central returned from the stoppage and rattled off five first-half touchdowns, cruising past St. Charles West to the tune of 35-7 and giving new coach Arlen Pixley his first victory in orange and black.

“Our theme all week has been focusing — focus on yourself, and focus on that man in the mirror,” Pixley said. “Let’s just take care of that guy, and let’s go play four quarters and do our job and not worry about everything else. Let’s just see what happens.

“Our varsity guys did that. ... I was very impressed with how we executed the game plan and how we carried ourselves on the field. There wasn’t a lot of talk, wasn’t a lot of chatter. We were very business-like when we came out of that locker room.”

Cape Central's Kway'Chon Chisom looks to run against St. Charles West on Friday, August 26, 2016 at Cape Central High School. (Trent Singer)

The opening kickoff was all that occurred on schedule, as officials sent the game into a lightning delay before either team was able to run a single play.

Everyone in the stadium evacuated and gathered in the school building, while the players went to their respective locker rooms until officials and school officials decided to proceed with the game.

Following the long delay, the Tigers’ defense forced a quick three-and-out and a punt that set the offense up at the Warriors’ 46. Central (1-1) marched downfield and scored in 11 plays, capping off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Kway’Chon Chisom at the 5:45 mark of the opening quarter.

“They were ready to come out,” Tigers defensive coordinator Bobby Haggerty said. “They didn’t want to get off the field.”

St. Charles West (1-1) turned the ball over on its next possession when senior Christian Mitchell recovered Alarenz Stanton’s fumble near midfield. Four plays later, Chisom extended Central’s lead by slipping through the middle of the field for a 35-yard TD run, shedding several tackles on his way into the end zone. Junior Aaron Harris ran in the two-point conversion, giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead with 2:14 remaining in the quarter.

Central added to its lead early in the second quarter when Chisom scrambled to his left and threw a jump ball to junior Austin Parker. The 6-foot-4 wideout leapt into the air and corralled a 25-yard touchdown reception that built a 21-0 advantage with 10:35 left in the first half.

Cape Central's Aaron Harris carries the ball against St. Charles West on Friday, August 26, 2016 at Cape Central High School. (Trent Singer)

“He’s a tall receiver, so we want to use him a lot,” Chisom said about Parker. “What’s better practice than throwing a jump ball in the game? ... He’s going to be a big player for us this year.”

Central senior Blake Harris led all receivers with three catches for 59 yards, while Parker hauled in two receptions for 34 yards.

Pixley said he’s been pleased with Parker’s ability to take pressure off the rest of the offense in order to open up more options.

“He’s a tremendous player, and he’s going to be — he’s just a junior,” Pixley said. “His hands have softened up tremendously since May. ... We’ve got three or four other guys that are very good receivers out there as well, but Austin right now is by far our most physical blocker. He’s a dominant guy when it comes to blocking. He’s not scared to mix it up with people.”

Chisom led the way for Central, finishing with 12 carries for 108 yards and two scores while also adding 93 yards and a TD on 5-of-7 (71 percent) passing.

“We had to find ways to be a little bit more creative with getting him out in space,” Pixley said about Chisom. “We’ve done a good job of that, and he’s reaping some rewards with that. He’s taking some pressure off of Aaron Harris. He’s taking a lot of pressure off of our offensive line, which looked a little better tonight because those guys are all functioning together.”

Cape Central's Aaron Harris, left and Matt Nussbaum combine to tackle St. Charles West's Brandon Carbray on Friday, August 26, 2016 at Cape Central High School. (Trent Singer)

The Warriors were unable to move the ball into Tiger territory until the second quarter. They averaged 3.7 yards per carry, finishing with 117 yards on 32 rushes. Central allowed St. Charles West to move the chains only five times in the first half.

By not yielding much on early downs, the Tigers forced the Warriors into long-yardage situations, which Pixley said was a point of emphasis this week in practice.

“We executed the game plan great on defense, and we did a really good job of it on offense,” Pixley said. “I’m proud of all of our guys that were out there and a part of that. They bought in to what we preached all week long and what we’ve been saying all summer, and the result is you get a pretty dominating performance there.”

On the other side, Central moved the ball with ease against St. Charles West.

Harris finished with a game-high 113 yards on 10 totes (11.3 ypc), including a 42-yard touchdown run off tackle with 6:27 remaining in the first half.

The Tigers racked up 269 yards on the ground, generating 6.1 yards per attempt.

Chisom said the offensive line was much more cohesive after several adjustments from last week’s 35-20 road loss against Class 2 Liberty — senior Colt Sweet moved from center to tackle, while senior Kegan Bramlett took over at center.

The Jungle cheers on Cape Central against St. Charles West on Friday, August 26, 2016 at Cape Central High School. (Trent Singer)

“It ain’t no secret — I can’t throw that good,” Chisom said with a laugh. “We wanted to establish the run. Everyone helped, and everyone put in work.”

Junior Joe Baker tacked on a 5-yard TD run just before halftime to give the Tigers a 35-0 lead.

Central allotted some playing time for its reserves during a running clock in the second half. The Warriors scored their only touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run by junior quarterback Matt Frazer, erasing the Tigers’ bid for a shutout with 1:54 left in the game.

St. Charles West ran a two-quarterback system and was paced through the air by junior QB Cameren Jett, who finished 3-of-11 (27 percent) passing for 61 yards with one interception.

Central kicker Hunter Hiett, a freshman, missed his first extra point early in the first quarter but was perfect on his final three attempts.

The Tigers begin SEMO Conference action in Week 3 against host Farmington.

Pixley said the key for his players moving forward is to eliminate distractions and continue to focus on the task at hand.

“We have to focus on ourselves and keep improving on ourselves as young men,” Pixley said. “This team can be scary when they’re focused and driven. The words can’t just come from the head coach, but they’ve got to come from our seniors, some of our juniors and even some of those sophomores who are playing a little bit. They’ve got to lead by example, and we have to encourage them to first lead themselves before they can lead by example.

“We’ve just got to really focus on the man in the mirror and continue to take care of that guy. We’ll go play our butts off every week and play four quarters hard for our fans, and hopefully good things will happen.”

St. Charles West 0 0 0 7 — 7

Cape Central 14 21 0 0 — 35

First quarter

CC — Kway’Chon Chisom 1 run (kick failed), 5:45

CC — Chisom 35 run (Aaron Harris conversion run), 2:14

Second quarter

CC — Austin Parker 25 pass from Chisom (Hunter Hiett kick), 10:35

CC — Harris 42 run (Hiett kick), 6:27

CC — Joe Baker 5 run (Hiett kick), 0:57

Fourth quarter

SCW — Matt Frazer 2 run (Evan Eickhoff kick), 1:54

TEAM STATISTICS

CC L

First downs 19 9

Rushes-yards 44-269 32-117

Passing yards 99 61

Passes 6-10-0 3-11-1

Punts-average 1-30 4-27

Fumbles-lost 1-1 5-1

Penalties-yards 14-86 5-22

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — St. Charles West, Brandon Carbray 7-45, Rashaad Chatman 1-8, Cameren Jett 2-8, Marcus Paddack 2-8, Joey Echele 1-6, Alarenz Stanton 5-5, Chris Fleeman 2-4, Ronnie Foster 2-3, Matt Frazer 5-3, Matt Anderson 1-0, Darius Morrison 4-0; Cape Central, Aaron Harris 10-113, Kway’Chon Chisom 12-108, Joe Baker 10-40, Markiese Jones 1-14, Trent Leimer 2-8, Detrick Merriweather 2-3, Christian Mitchell 1-2, Tyrus Reddin 1-(-1), Chalen Robinson 1-(-1), Hunter Hiett 1-(-1), Rickey Foulks 1-(-1), Tanner Herbst 1-(-7), Marc Anthony Jones 1-(-8).

PASSING — St. Charles West, Jett 3-11-61-1, Frazer 0-1-0-0; Cape Central, Chisom 5-7-93-0, Herbst 1-3-6-0.

RECEIVING — St. Charles West, Chatman 1-42, Carbray 1-18, Morrison 1-1; Cape Central, Blake Harris 3-59, Austin Parker 2-34, Jones 1-6.