The three minutes that ticked off the clock took much longer in real life and seemed even longer to Central's Purple Pounders.
Red Bank scored 16 points -- two touchdowns and a safety -- in less than three minutes during the second quarter of its 37-7 District 6-AA win Friday night.
"We went from feeling good to being behind the 8-ball," Central coach Ryan Mallory said. "Then it was, 'What the heck happened?'
"Scoring 16 points in three minutes changes the dynamic of a game."
Central's defense had been stout to date. So the Lions found other ways to score and get to 2-0 in league play. They blocked a punt and returned it. They returned a kick, scored twice on the ground and once through the air.
"We work a lot on special teams, and the guys did a great job buying in," Red Bank coach Chad Grabowski said. "It's a chance for us to score."
The Lions also pulled a surprise by starting senior receiver Brett Perry at quarterback. He went 6-for-16 with a touchdown and two interceptions and 133 yards in the air.
"I got in last week and threw a 73-yard touchdown," Perry said. "We had a really good week at practice. I'll do anything to help this team."
Demarcus Rivers started the special teams scoring. He sped around the right end and blocked a punt, and after teammates scrambled to cover the ball, Rivers picked it up and ran the final 6 yards to the end zone.
Central registered its first offensive touchdown since the first quarter of its second game when Scout Morgan scored on a sneak late in the first quarter.
The teams were in a tight defensive battle. It didn't last. In the second quarter the Pounders lost a fumble, threw two interceptions and were forced into a safety.
The Lions turned the fumble into a Malik Davis 17-yard touchdown. He outjumped his defender at the front pylon for a pass from Perry.
A poor kickoff return and penalties backed the Pounders up to their own 1-yard line. On fourth down, the punt snap sailed through the hands of punter Morgan, giving Red Bank a 16-7 lead.
Davis took the ensuing kickoff -- after he muffed it -- 78 yards behind a wall of blockers down the right sideline.
"That safety did everything," Grabowski said. "It got our juices flowing."
Davis ended Central's next possession by intercepting an out route from his safety position. Ben Brown added another interception before halftime.
Nobody from Central covered the opening kick of the second half, and Red Bank scored a 6-yard touchdown from Courtney Stamper two plays later.
"The only thing we had to so was stop the run," said Stamper, who plays outside linebacker.
They did that, special teams scored and Perry handled his quarterback duties.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.a