PUEBLO — It seems only fitting in a game full of tradition, the Pueblo Centennial High School football team made more history.
The Bulldogs beat their rival Pueblo Central 28-26 last Friday to win The Bell Game before a crowd of 13,000 at Dutch Clark Stadium.
This was the 114th meeting between Centennial and Central and the 64th in the Bell Series, which began in 1950. With the dramatic win over the Wildcats, Centennial won its fifth consecutive game in the Bell Series for the first time. Central leads the all-time series 55-50-9.
“This just feels great to make our mark in history, honestly,” Centennial senior star quarterback/running back Quincy Kindred said. “We’ve never won five Bell Games in a row and it just feels so great.”
The Bulldogs (4-1) have now won four games in a row and are ranked No. 10 in this week’s CHSAANow.com poll, the second week in a row Centennial has held that spot. The Dogs’ only loss was in their season-opener to Pine Creek (49-12). Pine Creek is the atop the 4A poll.
Now, Pueblo Centennial is seeking its first playoff berth since 2009.
“We’re battle tested and I take my hat off to these guys,” Centennial coach Mike Palumbo said while pointing to his players. “This (Bell Game) win means a lot to them. We’ve never won five Bell Games in a row at our school. We tried not to focus on that fact, but it was there.”
Kindred was the catalyst for his team at The Bell Game — like he has been all season.
The senior had 17 carries for 168 yards against the Wildcats, scoring three touchdowns on runs of 42, 76 and 7 yards. On the season, Kindred has a team-high 744 yards rushing and nine scores. He also has thrown two touchdown passes.
Kindred doesn’t work alone. Fellow senior running back Caleb Miranda, a 5-foot-9, 190-pounder, has 662 yards rushing and six touchdowns.
Miranda’s biggest run so far this season came when he dashed 50 yards for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter against Central, which put Centennial up 28-20.
“Quincy and Caleb are special athletes,” Palumbo said. “In our offense, we preach patience, patience, patience. People have to be real aggressive to stop us and you can’t be aggressive and perfect every time. Fortunately, we have kids who can take advantage of that.”
The 5-foot-8, 185-pound Kindred concurred with his coach.
“This win just gives us momentum and just give us drive to keep going hard every week in practice,” Kindred said.
Palumbo’s well aware of the success of the Bulldogs’ program. He played for renowned Centennial coach Tom Brockman, graduating in 1986. Brockman led the Bulldogs to two state championships in 1987 and 1992. Palumbo has been Centennial’s coach since 2008.
In ’87, the Bulldogs defeated a powerful Longmont squad 34-14 in the Class 3A title game. Then in ’92, Centennial trounced Sierra 33-12 in the 5A championship. Centennial also lost to Longmont 26-0 in the 5A state championship.
“We’ve been building and building,” Palumbo said about his Centennial program. “We have a lot of kids back out now. Hopefully this win over Central will propel us to our goals, which is to get the postseason and win a playoff game and go from there.”
Up next for the Bulldogs is a clash with Coronado (5-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Garry Berry Stadium in Colorado Springs. This is the Southern League opener for Centennial, while the Cougars are 1-0 in league. Coronado won the 3A state championship a year ago before moving to 4A this fall.
Jake Sanchez, Centennial’s junior quarterback, clearly is upbeat about what the Bulldogs can accomplish.
“We have great coaches and we all believe in what we are doing,” said Sanchez, who has 239 yards rushing and one touchdown. “We have a lot of confidence right now. I’m just glad I have Quincy and Caleb and my offensive linemen on my team. They are all making my job a lot easier because we are able run the ball and make big plays.”
