THOMASVILLE – Thomas County Central overwhelmed its playoff opponent for the second straight week. The 56-6 rout of Jonesboro Friday night in the second round of the Class 6-A playoffs advanced the Yellow Jackets to the quarterfinal round where they will travel to Rome next Friday.

Central has outscored its s opponents 105-6 in two playoff games. It also has started 12-0 for the second straight season under head coach Justin Rogers.

“I thought it was a great game all the way around, offense, defense, special teams,” Rogers said. “It was just a really clean game.”

Central rushed for 404 yards with six touchdowns, led by Trey Brenton’s 134 on the ground. He also scored three touchdowns. Ahmad Ponder rushed for 99 yards, while teammate Kobe Carnage added 70. The Yellow Jackets found an offensive rhythm in the second quarter which helped Central surge to a 35-0 halftime lead.

“We found a couple of things working, a couple of soft spots and started leaning on them right there,” Rogers said. “You could tell that the tempo started gassing them. We were getting big chunk plays off simple runs.”

Central’s defense, a force during the team’s first 11 games, was stout against the Cardinals. Jonesboro was held to 155 total yards and five first downs. The team also threw four interceptions, including one by Cam Brooks, that he returned 14 yards for a touchdown. Brooks also added a 20-yard touchdown reception on Central’s ensuing drive.

“He’s a special player. On that screen, if he don’t play it, they had it set up good. He goes up, intercepts it and returns it,” Rogers said. “Then we got down there at the goal line, put him in there at tight end and he ran a great little dig route. He’s a special player and am glad he’s a sophomore.”

Kendarius Reddick, Devin Ross and Dannell Jester also recorded interceptions for the Yellow Jackets. Central is allowing 7.75 points per game.

“(No.) 3 and 6 are elite players now, and the quarterback isn’t bad, but he just never could get settled. He’s forcing stuff. Our secondary has great coverage. He had nobody open,” Rogers said. “Again, it was a really clean game from all three units.”