After the offenses piled up 92 points total, a defensive play by the Homecoming king preserved the Northeastern football team’s win against Centerville on Friday, Sept. 18.
Trent Deloney intercepted a potential game-extending pass in the end zone as time expired and then dashed more than 100 yards the other way for a pick-six that put the exclamation point on the Knights’ 56-42 homecoming victory.
“Once I saw the ball coming my way, I just played offense at that point,” Deloney said of the final play after celebrating with the Knight cheering section on the field. “We didn’t hang our heads, we stayed together. We’re a brotherhood, and we fought until the clock struck zero.”
The Northeastern-Centerville rivalry played out for the first time under the Eastern Crossroads Conference banner on a warm fall night with a touch of clouds and breeze. The Knights (3-2, 2-1) and Bulldogs (1-4, 0-3) put on a show for the standing-room-only crowd. The student sections were full and dressed to match their teams’ uniforms – Northeastern all-black, Centerville all-white.
Deloney, who was crowned Homecoming king at halftime, turned in a royally impressive performance. Deloney scored four of the Northeastern touchdowns and set up two more with long runs that put the Knights in scoring position. He finished with more than 400 all-purpose yards, including a 99-yard kickoff return in the second quarter.
“We had several trick plays this week to get Trent more touches. You see it out there – he’s hard to contain,” said Northeastern coach Wes Oler. “But the story of the second half was our defense. (Centerville) scored seven points in the second half after putting up 35 points in the first half, and then our defense took over.”
Centerville indeed led 35-34 after the high-scoring first half. The newly painted lines on Northeastern’s newly resurfaced track could have come in handy, because a track meet broke out in the first two quarters. The Bulldogs scored on five of their six first-half possessions. Northeastern kept pace with timely plays on both ends of the half. The Knights stole a possession — which led to a touchdown — with a perfectly executed high-bouncing onside kick on the opening kickoff. Later, Caden Retter’s touchdown reception 12 seconds before halftime cut what could have been a two-score halftime deficit to a single point.
Centerville led the fight on points throughout the second and third quarters. Bulldog quarterback Jace Hollendonner threw for four long touchdowns – including two difficult connections with Kyle Dickenson – and ran for another.
It all came down to two fourth-and-goals in the last three minutes.
Northeastern took its first lead since the first quarter when Jarrett Leitner scored on a second surge on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal from a few blades of grass outside the end zone. Deloney added the two-point conversion to put the Knights ahead 50-42 with 2:54 to go.
Centerville needed just three plays to move from its own 35 to the Northeastern 3. The Bulldogs got four chances at a potential game-tying score, but three runs came up empty before the interception on the final play.
“This is a tough one, a real tough loss tonight,” said Centerville coach Ryan Cole, whose team continues to miss several starters due to injuries. “Offensively, I was really happy with our execution of our game plan, but defensively, we struggled to stop No. 7 (Deloney). He had a heck of a game. He’s fast and elusive and had a big night.
“We just came up two yards short at the end. We’re going to regroup and get back at it next week.”
Northeastern 14 20 8 14 – 56
Centerville 14 21 7 0 – 42
Northeastern stat leaders: Trent Deloney 10-185, Corbin Isaacs 16-44. Passing: Jarrett Leitner 12-20-2-176, Deloney 1-1-0-40. Receiving: Quanell Denton 4-101, Caden Retter 5-74, Gavin Platt 2-21, Deloney 2-20. Defense: Platt 18 tackles, 1 forced fumble, Jackson Crank 11 tackles
Centerville stat leaders (unofficial): Rushing: Hunter Sonntag 24-116, Jace Hollendonner 9-41. Passing: Hollendonner 16-26-1-289. Receiving: Kyle Dickenson 5-99, Bryson Brown 3-79, Brylen Riggs 3-53, Sonntag 3-39, Hudson Anderson 2-29.
A version of this article will appear in the September 23 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
