The magical Salina Central football season is getting better.

And so is tailback Taylon Peters and the offensive line.

The senior ran in open space for 300-plus yards, the defense came up with important stops, and the Mustangs picked up their first true road victory of the season, 33-19, over the Newton Railers at Fischer Field. It was the first away win since October 2, 2015 when the Mustangs beat the Campus Colts.

Central avoided a sluggish start, marching down the field with little resistance. Peters took advantage, sprinting to the goal line for a 22-yard scamper on the game’s opening drive. The Mustangs followed after forcing a Newton punt, leading to a two-yard plunge with 6:55 left in the first.

Central did stumble on its third drive of the game as junior quarterback Jackson Kavanagh saw the ball bounce into the hands of the Railers in SC territory. SC’s defense stiffened inside the red zone. On a 4th and goal from the six, senior linebacker Greg Gibson stood up Newton quarterback Colton Davis. Central would find the end zone early in the second on a Peters five-yard score, giving SC a 19-0 advantage.

The next pair of scores belonged to the Railers. Newton drove deep into SC land, stalling at the six. Facing another 4th and goal from the six, Davis threw a strike to Damarius Peterson on a slant route with four seconds left. Davis opened the second half with a 67-yard run for a score, pulling the Railers to within seven points.

Salina Central responded with two backbreaking drives. Both were capped off by Peters, who scored from 5 and 12 yards out, pushing the margin to 33-12 going into the fourth. Newton relied on another big play to stay alive as backup Ben Schmidt threw a 38-yard pass for a score to Josh Edson for his first varsity pass at the 10:33 mark. The Railers received the ball with six minutes left, but ran out of time.

For the third consecutive game, Peters ran for 200-plus yards, finishing with 304 and five TD’s on 38 carries. In the last three weeks, Peters has racked up 850 yards and 14 scores.

Salina Central (5-1, 4-1 AVTL-I) stays on the road for a huge tilt with Maize (6-0) next Friday. The Freddy’s and Mokas Pregame Show begins at 6:45 on Sports Radio 1150 KSAL.

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