Central's offense hogged the ball during Saturday's game at Houck Stadium.

The Tigers never allowed Obion County's offense to find a rhythm because the Rebels rarely possessed the ball.

Central used 76 offensive plays to chew up the clock and overwhelm the visitors from Tennessee 46-13.

"The defense, that's the most brutal part," Central quarterback Christian Cavaness said. "You're always hitting someone or getting hit. So to have them over there relaxed and regrouping is nice to have so they're fresh."

The Tigers' defense was plenty fresh because it only was on the field for 13 minutes, 25 seconds compared to 34:35 for Central's offense.

Central senior Keilon Moore reacts after one of his two interceptions against Obion County, Tenn., during their game Saturday at Houck Stadium. (Laura Simon)

"I think they were playing our run game and they were playing our run game very hard," Central coach Rich Payne said. "At the same time, I think [assistant coaches] Steve Williams and Nathan Norman did a nice job of taking what the defense was giving us. They were taking away the perimeter stuff, so we went inside with the trap and the dive with [Michael] Reeder and [Rodney] Reynolds. Then they were giving us some stuff on the pass with the way they were playing."

The Tigers set the tone from the beginning. They forced the Rebels to punt, which was downed at the Central 9-yard line. Cavaness and his offense went to work on an 18-play drive that lasted 8:24 and culminated with a 3-yard scoring run by Keilon Moore, his first of three on the day.

"It's good to set the tempo so you get the first hit," said Central senior lineman Jeremy Lamb, who admitted he was a little tired after the lengthy opening drive. "They know what to expect for the rest of the game."

Central's defense then forced a three-and-out, which only lasted 1:21. The Tigers' offense wasted little time putting together another drive, which was aided by a roughing the kicker penalty on the Rebels after a missed field goal. The Tigers capitalized on the new life when Cavaness lofted a pass into the left side of the end zone to 6-foot-5 receiver Andrew Williams.

"On that fade, I said just to throw it up and I'll go get it," Williams said. "Their cornerbacks were playing probably 10 or 15 yards off, so we had a lot of success just throwing it out there and getting at least 5 or 10 yards every time."

Central quarterback Christian Cavaness throws a touchdown pass against Obion County during the second quarter Saturday.

Obion County loves to pass, so its drives ended quickly with quarterback Trey Phipps missing on six of his first seven attempts in the game.

"We worked on their passing scheme every play we practiced," Central senior defensive back Jaeson Reddin said. "Coach told us it was going to be a hard one so we had to step up to the challenge."

Central's longest play of the day came on its third possession, a 76-yard jaunt by Moore. He finished with 135 yards rushing and three scores and added a pair of interceptions on defense. It was his second consecutive game with more than 130 yards rushing.

"Keilon is a good football player and he's a solid leader of the ballclub," Payne said. "I think he gives us a lot of things as the running back. But the thing I like about Keilon, he's a worker. I kind of had to yell at him a little bit because there were a couple plays I thought he took off. But then again, he's such a gamer and he works so hard on things."

The 76-yard run was only one of five plays that covered more than 15 yards for the Tigers' offense. That's a reason why Central ran 37 more plays than Obion County (1-3).

Obion County defenders Trent Mann, left, and Josh Quinton tackle Central senior Michael Reeder during Saturday's game at Houck Stadium.

The Tigers added a wrinkle to their offense Saturday. After only attempting 11 passes and completing five of them, Central threw the ball more against the Rebels. Cavaness completed all six of his attempts for 67 yards in the opening half, which he ranked as his best performance.

"Our offense, we have such good runners that we don't always get to throw the ball," Cavaness said. "The past games we've been up so just run the clock out. It feels pretty good to throw the ball."

Four of Central's 27 first downs came on passes in the win.

"Coach has been talking about all week not being one dimensional and come out and try to pass the ball," Williams said. "We've been working on that a lot more this past week."

Moore said the passing attack helped opened some holes for the running game.

Central quarterback Christian Cavaness, left, and wide receiver Andrew Williams celebrate Cavaness' touchdown pass to Williams during Saturday's game.

"It do a lot because then with all our motion, they don't know if we're going to pass or run," he said.

Central improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2002. It will try to move to 4-0 for the first time since 1977, when the Tigers opened 5-0. But they'll have to knock off rival Jackson to continue their winning streak, something that hasn't happened since 2002.

Central enters riding a three-game winning streak and the Tigers' offense is averaging 38.3 points and 406.3 yards per game.

"Being 3-0 is a good thing for these guys, but at the same time, you've got to be confident in your ability but not cocky," Payne said. "I'll be the first to make sure I regulate that. I'll tell them it's another game."

Reddin said he expects another tough week of practice to avoid overconfidence entering Friday's game against the Indians at Houck Stadium.

"Coach Payne, he's happy that we won, but deep down inside, he doesn't want us to get happy that we won," Reddin said. "He's not going to let us get too overwhelmed about our victory. He's been in our butt a lot this whole week about repetition."

Obion County 0 0 6 7 -- 13

Central 7 13 7 19 -- 46

First Quarter

C -- Keilon Moore 3 run (Andrew Hileman kick), 1:20

Second Quarter

C -- Andrew Williams 9 pass from Christian Cavaness (Hileman kick), 7:23

C -- Moore 76 run (kick failed), 4:19

Third Quarter

C -- Michael Reeder 4 run (Hileman kick), 8:55

O -- Tanner Cary 37 pass from Trey Phipps (kick failed), 4:19

Fourth Quarter

C -- Moore 7 run (kick failed), 11:53

O -- Nathan Ward 7 pass from Phipps (Ward kick), 11:16

C -- Reeder 12 pass from Cavaness (kick failed), 6:27

C -- Austin Martin 18 run (Hileman kick), 4:12

OC C

First downs 9 27

Rushes-yards 14-72 64-358

Passing yards 139 109

Passes 13-25-2 10-12-0

Punts 6-38.7 1-40

Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-yards 6-61 6-41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Obion County, LaDevin Flair 4-31, Trey Phipps 4-(-8), Justin Wiles 2-49, Blake Rudd 3-1, Ben Jones 1-(-4). Central, Deonte Jenkins 10-11, James Poindexter 14-56, Keilon Moore 15-135, Rodney Reynolds 4-10, Michael Reeder 8-52, Austin Davis 1-0, Christian Cavaness 5-61, Team 1-(-1), Alex Davis-Carter 4-19, Austin Martin 1-18, Jacob Campbell 1-(-3).

PASSING -- Obion County, Trey Phipps 12-24-141-2, Ben Jones 1-1-(-2)-0. Central, Christian Cavaness 10-12-109-0.

RECEIVING -- Obion County, Tanner Cary 4-67, LaDevin Flair 3-55, Nathan Ashley 3-13, Mason McGrew 2-12, Nathan Ward 2-4. Central, Zach Boerboom 3-39, Andrew Williams 5-42, Deonte Jenkins 1-16, Michael Reeder 1-12.