Central senior Keilon Moore took coach Rich Payne's halftime speech to heart Friday.

"When we was in the locker room, coach told us we got to come out and score on our first drive," Moore said. "I didn't make it to offense. I put it in there."

Moore returned the second half's opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to complete the Tigers' 41-6 rout of rival Jackson at crowded Houck Stadium.

"I guess Keilon took it literally and didn't even let the offense get on the field," Central senior Zach Boerboom said. "That was great."

Payne liked the result, but admitted he became a little anxious at the start of the play because Moore fielded the ball on a bounce.

Jackson defenders Ben Mickan, left, Wes Dillard, center, and Austin Gonzaque chase down Central running back James Poindexter during Friday's game at Houck Stadium. The Tigers beat the Indians for the first time since 2002. (Laura Simon)

"Did I expect that? No. And to be honest, I was a little nervous because he kind of fumbled around back there with it," Payne said. "I'm thinking, 'Oh no, inside the 5 is not where we want to be.' But Keilon has speed and he has athletic ability. We had kids that stayed with their blocks."

Jackson coach Van Hitt lamented his team's opportunity to stop the return before Moore broke loose.

"It wasn't like we had poor coverage," Hitt said. "We had three people right there to make the tackle and all three missed him. They tried to tackle him too high. He's a big, strong back and he's going to run through arm tackles. You've got to hit him low and take his feet out from under him."

The touchdown pushed Central's lead to 35 points, which meant the second half was played with a running clock. The victory was Central's first against the Indians since 2002.

"I mean the mix of emotions is overwhelming right now," said Boerboom, who sat alone on a sideline bench with a wide grin while staring at the field well after the game concluded. "You're happy. You feel everything. You feel like you want to cry. You want to run around, jump up and down at the same time. It's amazing. It's the best feeling in the world right now."

Jackson defenders Ben Mickan, left, Wes Dillard, center, and Austin Gonzaque chase down Central running back James Poindexter on Friday as the Tigers battle the Indians at Houck Stadium. (Laura Simon)

Central senior Andrew Hileman said: "I was thinking about it and in 2002, the last time we beat Jackson, I was 10 years old. And I saw on semoball [that] we've only won three games out of the 18 years I've been alive. It's a great feeling."

The win also marked the first time Central has started a season 4-0 since 1977.

Jackson (2-2) stuck with the Tigers for the first quarter and well into the second. Indians senior quarterback Bobby Clark threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Lowgn Wren to pull Jackson within a touchdown at 14-6 with 7 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half.

But Central's offense quickly found its rhythm. The Tigers marched 80 yards on six plays, including a 40-yard rumble by Moore, who punched it in from 14 yards out.

Central's defense forced a three-and-out before the offense covered 44 yards in six plays for another score to push Central's lead to 28-6 with 1:06 left before halftime.

Central running back Keilon Moore tries to juke the Jackson defense during Friday's game. He rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

Jackson running back Ethan Ruch fumbled on the Indians' first play from scrimmage, and Von Martin returned it to the Jackson 8-yard line. It took three runs for Central to score again and grab a commanding 35-6 halftime lead.

The Tigers outrushed the Indians 206 yards to 10 in the first half and collected 14 first downs to four for Jackson.

"They blocked us well," Hitt said. "We didn't read well on defense. When they trapped us, our defensive linemen weren't closing properly and leaving big gaps. Then when they would break the line of scrimmage and we just had bad tackling. We missed tackles and their backs are very good and quick."

Central mixed its offensive attack. The Tigers used a healthy dose of the run but quarterback Christian Cavaness went 5 of 6 for 60 yards, including a 24-yard pass to Andrew Williams. The pair had another scoring strike erased by a penalty.

"I know we're running it for a lot of yards, but you've got to look for your opportunities to throw the ball and try to get our open receivers, and we did a good job of that," Payne said. "The protection was solid and Christian made good decisions. We have good athletes out there too."

Central fans watch from the stands Friday at Houck Stadium.

Hitt said the Indians knew Central liked to run but they couldn't only focus on the run because of Cavaness' ability to throw the ball.

"You can't take just one away from them because they do both very well," Hitt said. "You couldn't come in and say we'll we're just going to take the run away because they throw the ball too well."

Jackson's offense found the going rough all game. The Indians only collected eight first downs and couldn't consistently move the ball on the ground. Jackson averaged 1.2 yards per carry.

"They played really well," Clark said. "We kind of started where we couldn't really run the ball. Then we started passing and made some bad plays. We made some penalties. I think we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times and that just set the tone for the game."

Friday's loss marked an end to Jackson's recent success in the series. The Indians had outscored the Tigers 233-74 since Central last defeated its rival.

Jackson fans cheer from the stands Friday as the Tigers battle the Indians at Houck Stadium.

"It's real tough," Clark said about the loss. "It's terrible. I really wanted to get a win the last time I played them in football. But it didn't work out that way."

Meanwhile, Central will try to continue its roll to start the season. It will travel to North County to face a team that Jackson shut out 17-0 in Week 3. Central will try to move to 5-0 for the first time since 1977.

"They may be 4-0, but I'll tell you right now, that group of young men are still hungry," Payne said. "And if they're hungry, they're not going to be satisfied with that game. They're going to get ready for the next game, the next game and the next game."

Jackson 0 6 0 0 -- 6

Central 7 28 6 0 -- 41

Jackson sophomore Lowgn Wren looks for room to run during Friday's game.

First Quarter

C -- Deonte Jenkins 3 run (Andrew Hileman), 1:34

Second Quarter

C -- Keilon Moore 34 run (Hileman kick), 11:15

J -- Lowgn Wren 30 pass from Bobby Clark (Adam Brown), 7:20

C -- Moore 14 run (Hileman kick), 3:54

C -- Andrew Williams 24 pass from Christian Cavaness (Hileman kick), 1:06

C -- Cavaness 1 run (Hileman kick), :09

Third Quarter

C -- Moore 98 kickoff return (Kick blocked), 11:45

J C

First downs 8 17

Rushes-yards 26-32 42-284

Passing yards 65 60

Passes 4-9-1 5-6-1

Punts 6-36.5 1-26

Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-35 6-51

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Jackson, Bobby Clark 8-(-23), Ethan Ruch 14-56, Lowgn Wren 1-1, Wolf Knickerbocker 2-(-2). Team 1-0. Central, Deonte Jenkins 7-43, Christian Cavaness 5-(-3), James Poindexter 12-95, Rodney Reynolds 3-9, Keilon Moore 7-95, Michael Reeder 3-11, Austin Davis 1-13, Garan Evans 1-0, Eric Evans 2-14, Austin Martin 1-7.

PASSING -- Jackson, Bobby Clark 4-9-65-1. Central, Christian Cavaness 5-6-60-1.

RECEIVING -- Jackson, Lowgn Wren 2-38, Nick Cooper 1-11, Ethan Ruch 1-16. Central, Deonte Jenkins 1-14, Andrew Williams 3-35, Zach Boerboom 1-11.