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HIGH POINT – Similar to its previous game, High Point Central’s offense got it started and the defense finished it off.

The Bison were scoring at will and building a two-touchdown lead. The defense then had two big second half takeaways in Central’s 40-21 win over East Forsyth.

It was the Piedmont Triad 4-A Conference opener for the Bison, who improved to 5-1 overall.

“We reiterate to them every week that they have to come out and finish,” said High Point Central coach Wayne Jones. “That first half is over and the second half is a completely new game.”

One player who has helped the Bison begin the season so strong is quarterback Drew Adams. Adams was 24-for-36 with 249 yards and three touchdowns.

“With this being the first conference game we knew we needed to execute and get started early,” Adams said. “We wanted to play with the lead. It’s a lot easier to play with the lead.”

Jones is impressed with the way Adams is using the whole field and different receivers.

“He’s really spreading the ball around and anytime you spread the ball it makes us more difficult to defend,” Jones said.

After leading 27-14 at halftime, the Bison scored on an 86-yard interception return by defensive back Aaron Leach in the third quarter.

Another interception in the fourth quarter kept the Eagles (3-3) from building any momentum. And then a muffed punt that was recovered by Central led to its final points.

It was a rapid fire first half, with each team scoring quickly.

Central started with a three-play drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Drew Adams to Derek Grant and the Bison had a 6-0 lead. East Forsyth answered even quicker when running back Ray McCloud got loose on a sweep left and went untouched down the sideline for a 72-yard touchdown run.

That gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead with 1:47 to play in the first quarter.

“They had an unbalanced line that we hadn’t seen before,” Jones said about McCloud’s first half runs. “We didn’t make the adjustments early, but we made the adjustments at halftime.”

HPC – Derek Grant 29 pass from Drew Adams (kick failed)

EF – Ray McCloud 72 run (Chad Hollandsworth kick)

HPC – Adams 9 run (Miller kick)

EF – Erick Smith 1 run (Hollandsworth kick)

HPC – Raheem Grimes 6 run (Miller kick)

HPC – Lashuran Monk 6 pass from Adams (Miller kick)

HPC – Aaron Leach 86 interception return (kick fails)

HPC – Grant 15 pass from Adams (Miller kick)