MILL HALL — The worst thing you can do against an extremely talented team is fall behind early by a large margin. Unfortunately for Central Mountain, that’s precisely what happened on Friday night in Mill Hall.

Troy wasted little time, scoring less than two minutes into the game and, from there, the flood gates opened. Troy would score a touchdown on each of its first-half possessions to build a commanding lead en route to a 62-10 win to remain undefeated (9-0) and keep the Wildcats winless (0-9).

Brendan Gilliland scored on a 12-yard run to set the pace. After forcing Central Mountain to a three-and-out, Troy’s Lincoln Chimics took the punt 70 yards for a touchdown and then, 54 seconds later, he ran in a score from 30 yards out.

That fast sequence of events gave Troy a 21-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Troy would build a 28-0 lead after the first quarter and held a 56-3 lead going into halftime.

The Wildcats got on the board late in the second quarter.

Gavin Heverly took a kickoff down the right-hand side of the field more than 60 yards, getting Central Mountain into the red zone to the 14. It was just the second trip into Troy territory with 3:52 to play until halftime.

Troy’s defense held Central Mountain on its first three plays before Mycah Carson kicked a 32-yard field goal to avoid being shutout. It was also a score for the Wildcats on Troy’s first-team defense.

Troy wasted little time responding against the Wildcats’ score. After a kickoff return brought Troy into Central Mountain territory, Kael Millard broke a 36-yard run up the middle, breaking a handful of tackles en route to the endzone down the left-hand side of the field to put Troy ahead by 53 points.

In the fourth quarter, Central Mountain found the endzone. After a 47-yard pass from Isaac Maldonado to Gavin Heverly put Central Mountain to the 10 yard line, Cooper Bottorf did the rest.

Bottorf took a first-and-goal run to the 1 yard line and then punched in on the next play and gave the Wildcats’ their first touchdown with 6:23 to play in the game, cutting the deficit to 56-10.

After a 41-yard pass from backup quarterback Spencer Martin to Roland Smith set up a redzone possession, Troy would turn to its ground game to punch in another score.

At the 19, Marcus Frisbie took the carry to the left and punched in a score to put Troy ahead, 62-10, with 2:23 remaining in the game.

Troy scored on seven consecutive possessions to begin the game and had a punt return touchdown as well during the first half.

Central Mountain struggled in the first half moving the ball against a standout Troy defensive unit. The Wildcats lost a fumble on their second possession which lead to a Troy touchdown. Central Mountain had two drives end with a turnover on downs, two three-and-outs result in a punt before kicking a field goal on its final possession in the first half.

Troy out-gained Central Mountain in yardage, 328-170. Isaiah Maldonado saw success for the Wildcats throwing the ball as he finished 9 for 12 for 100 yards. No Troy player had more than 40 rushing yards as many of Troy’s scoring drives were thanks to short yardage pickups thanks to good field position.

Lincoln Chimics caught two receptions and had 64 yards and a touchdown for Troy, Mason Smith caught a pass for a 48-yard touchdown and Reed Palmer had a five-yard touchdown reception. Gavin Heverly of Central Mountain led the team with three catches for 67 yards while Jake Weaver caught two passes for 25 yards.

Central Mountain had plenty of positive takeaways in the second half as they had success against Troy’s second string. The Wildcats will look to build off that success as Central Mountain hosts Jersey Shore in Week 10 action.