After dropping their season opening showdown with Peacock, the Central Cyclones earned a big win on Thursday night.

The Cyclones went into Swift Current and knocked off the Colts, 34-14, under the lights for their annual night game.

“Our boys came out with intensity, not only on the opening kick-off, but they played the first two-three quarters with a lot of intensity,” said Central head coach Colin Belsher.

The win for Central puts their record at 1-1 on the year in the Moose Jaw High School Football League, while the Swift Current Colts fall to 1-1.

Central dominated the game with their offence on the way to the win as quarterback Ethan Johnson and running back Dawson Pearce connected for a strong attack through the air and on the ground.

“Our running game was a lot stronger this week, we worked really hard this week on that after being pretty stagnate on our run game last week,” said Belsher. “I thought Dawson Pearce played great, but it starts with the offensive line, they played really good today, which allows for success with our running back.”

After struggling to get their offence going in the Week 1 loss to Peacock, it was a big turnaround for Central in under a week to get their offence rolling. Belsher said this was what they were expecting from Johnson and the offence.

“Ethan Johnson, that’s who he is,” said Belsher. “He’s very calm and composed and if the offensive line gives him time, he’s smart enough and good enough that he is going to find an open receiver and he was able to go through his reads and find that open receiver tonight.”

The strong start for Central put the Colts behind the eight-ball and they weren’t able to fight their way back in the loss in front of a big crowd for the night game.

"The first half was tough – we had a hard time getting things going,” said Colts head coach Derek Murdoch after the loss. "I mean you can't expect everything to go right all of the time. We definitely had a better second half, but tough to overcome with a tough start.”

It will be a quick turnaround for both Central and Swift Current as their Week 3 game is coming up on Tuesday. The Cyclones will host the Weyburn Eagles at Gutheridge Field at 4 p.m., while the Colts will welcome in the Peacock Tornadoes.

Week 2 action continues on Friday night with the Tornadoes battling the Vanier Vikings at Gutheridge Field. Both teams enter the game at 1-0. Kick-off is at 4 p.m.