BLOOMINGTON - The football sat on the 10-yard line for what seemed like an eternity after a shanked punt. Central Catholic High School senior Dylan Johnson finally made his move. | Photo galleries | Week 1 football results | Box scores, schedules, stats

"I heard one of our linemen call 'hot call,' meaning run away from it," Johnson said. "I'm standing there and I see the ball just laying there. I looked around and there was no one there and I just went for it.

"It was just an easy chip shot. I picked it up and walked in basically."

Johnson's 10-yard punt return ignited a 23-point outburst in the final 3½ minutes of the first half Friday night that broke open a tight game and lifted the Saints to a 33-0 Corn Belt Conference win over Prairie Central at Bill Hundman Memorial Field.

Central Catholic, which claimed its 30th straight season-opening win, led 3-0 when Sean Stokes appeared to block a punt by Prairie Central's Mitchell McDonald deep in Hawks' territory.

"I whiffed on it," a smiling Stokes said.

Regardless, McDonald's punt went straight up in the air and led to Johnson's heads-up play and a 10-0 Central Catholic lead with 3:29 left in the first half.

The Saints, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, forced a punt on the next possession and Prairie Central snapped the ball out of the end zone for a safety that made it 12-0. Ben Heaton returned the ensuing free kick 65 yards for another TD to push the Saints' lead to 19-0.

After another short punt by McDonald, junior quarterback Taylor Jewett tossed a 27-yard TD pass to Dan Curran to give the Saints a 26-0 halftime lead. Jewett started in place of senior Adam Rebholz, who was serving a disciplinary suspension.

"I thought our specialty teams were the difference in the game without a doubt," said Central Catholic coach Bobby Moews. "Our kicker (Kendall Cox) really stood out tonight both kicking it deep and with the (23-yard) field goal.

"(Jewett) did a great job. He came out and ran that veer real well. Our defense was pretty good, too."

Sophomore Brad Connor added a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter for the Saints, who overcame four turnovers by outgaining the Hawks 210-87.

"It was the special teams putting the ball on the ground, and we have to figure that out," said Prairie Central coach Brian Hassett. "I'm disappointed, but I'm not upset because we played hard. That's a good football team, and I'm proud of our kids for playing hard."