One of the enduring football clichés is that for every big rivalry game, you may as well throw out the records. That wasn't necessary Oct. 3 as Centennial visited Mt. Hebron to play for the Ed Holshue Cup, because each team came into the game at 1-3.

Centennial won the game, 21-14, behind a key interception by Gerek Jones in the end zone, and the hard-charging running of Kyle Young (136 yards, two touchdowns, two-point conversion).

During a 32-year career, Ed Holshue coached football at each school, 16 years at Mt. Hebron and 12 at Centennial. On Friday, he spent half the game on the Mt. Hebron sideline and the other half on Centennial's.

"We've talked all week about how this isn't a normal game, about how special it is and how much work it is," said Centennial coach Ken Senisi, who credited his coaching staff, especially offensive coordinator Mike Ritucci, for drawing up the winning gameplan.

In addition to Young's offensive output, he also contributed an inspired effort on defense, getting to the ball on 10 tackles, one for a loss, and one sack.

"This is the most important game of the season," Young said.

The significance of the game was not lost on Mt. Hebron coach Ross Hannon, who played for Holshue as a Viking and took over for him when he retired from Centennial in 2002. Hannon coached at Centennial for two seasons before taking over at his alma mater this year.

"I played for the man and I got my first coaching job under him, so when I see him on the track, part of me really wants to make him proud of Mt. Hebron and stepping in his shoes," Hannon said. "It was tough looking over there and seeing him in red on their sideline ... we want to get the Cup back."

The Holshue Cup game began in 2002 after Holshue's retirement from coaching. Centennial owns a 4-3 lead in the series.

Mt. Hebron's Brody Tennant and Mike McCarthy both made game-breaking plays in the second half. Tennant (96 of his team's 106 rushing yards) cut Centennial's lead to 21-14 late in the third quarter when he scored on a 75-yard run. He broke a couple of tackles, weaved his way through defenders, found open field and scored Mt. Hebron's second touchdown of the quarter. Mt. Hebron trailed, 14-0, at halftime.

"We're getting a little more downfield effort from some kids blocking. At that second level, that springs long runs," Hannon said.

With 6 1/2 minutes left, Mt. Hebron got a key stop on a fourth-down pass play to take possession. Six plays into its ensuing drive, Clint Huber threw a pass to big-play receiver McCarthy who boxed out his defender to catch the ball. The play went for 38 yards, putting the ball on the Centennial 8-yard line. On the next play, though, Huber forced a throw into a crowd and Jones came up with the big interception for the Eagles.

From there, Centennial was able to run down the clock by taking the ball up the middle. With no time outs to stop the clock, Young picked up a first down with 40 seconds left to seal the game for the Eagles.

Centennial's Shane Jaeger (97 rushing yards) opened the scoring early in the first quarter with a 58-yard run, as Centennial outgained Mt. Hebron, 339-106, on the ground, and had 21 first downs to Mt. Hebron's eight.

For Mt. Hebron, Huber completed 10 passes for 140 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown to Spencer Wilkins, but he also tossed three interceptions.

Jon Iwaskiw was in on 15 tackles, and caused a fumble for the Vikings. Conor Moe and Preston Schryer each picked off passes for the Eagles, while Matt Sheckells made two sacks. Centennial's Greg Ortman had a 71-yard kickoff return that set up Young's second touchdown.

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