The Central Methodist football team held the lead for the first time this season, but the situation quickly reversed as the Eagles fell 62-12 at Heart powerhouse Graceland on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles went up by two points just 34 seconds into the game. After the CMU defense held the Yellowjackets to a three-and-out on their opening drive of the game, Graceland’s long-snapper sailed the snap over the punter’s head through the back of the end zone for a safety, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

“It was great to see our guys come out with emotion to start the game and get that early lead,” said Central coach Dave Brown. “Now the key is making sure we don’t get too high or too low. When you have a young team, one of the issues is how to keep your guys even-keeled and win every series. You could see the energy really rise up on our sideline early in the game. But then, in the moment it went away, you could see the tension come back.”

Central’s lead quickly evaporated as Graceland inflated the scoreboard with 28 first-quarter points en route to a commanding 48-5 halftime lead.

Central’s only offensive score of the first half came on a 28-yard field goal by Oscar Simon midway through the second quarter to give the Eagles five points heading into the break.

The Eagles scored once more on a 74-yard pass from backup quarterback Alvaro Ortega-Morales to Tristan Boyce to cap off a three-play drive with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.

Ortega-Morales finished the game competing 12 of 22 passes for 253 total yards and one touchdown. Boyce had a career day for the Eagles, catching five passes for 163 yards and a touchdown.

Starting quarterback Jordan Gile completed just one of four passes for 11 yards before leaving the game with an injury after a targeting flag was thrown on Graceland.

“He had a run on a third down and converted the first,” Brown recalled. “He went to slide and got hit on the play. It’s unfortunate. He wasn’t playing well to start the game, but now start to see some things and get things clicking and to then get banged up and removed for injuries is not what we wanted to see.”

Central’s rushing game continued to struggle for the third game in a row and finished with negative 28 yards. The Eagles were again without Fayette native and junior running back Garren Vroman, who has been injured since starting the season opener.

Brown says the consideration for Vroman to play is week to week, and he hopes his starting running back can retake the field when the Eagles return home on Saturday.

“Garren did some things at practice this week. We just didn’t feel he was ready to go on Saturday,” said Brown. “I’m hoping that we have him this next week. But it’s a day-to-day, week-to-week thing as he keeps progressing back from it.”

Four Eagle rushers finished with negative yardage on the day. Only Dawan Lomax and Caleb Smith were able to move the ball forward. Lomax picked up eight yards on as many carries, while Smith ran for eight yards on seven rushes.

The rushing game has been a major concern for Brown and his coaching staff all season. Central has only picked up 18 positive yards on the ground over the first three games. Brown said turning the running game around is crucial for his young team to move forward.

“That’s obviously the big stand out right now,” Brown said. “I don’t remember the last time I was involved in the game where the running game was that bad. I’ve got to do a better job, and our coaching staff has to do a better job, finding ways to figure out what our guys upfront can do well. There’s just still a lack of consistency across the board.”

Defensively, Brenden Dye tallied 11 total tackles, while Dylan Holt finished with seven.

Simon was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts after one was blocked.

Graceland improved to 2-1 on the season after producing 513 yards of total offense on Saturday. The Jackets passed for 305 yards and rushed for 208. Graceland turned the ball over once compared to six times for CMU.

Central, now 0-3 overall, hopes to pick up the first win of the season in front of a home crown on Family Weekend this Saturday against Clarke University. The Pride is also winless on the season after starting with crooked losses against Midland and Mo. Baptist the first two weeks. Clarke fell to Missouri Valley 37-13 on Saturday.

Brown said his young team is able to bounce back from tough losses on Saturdays to start a new week focused on the next game. “I think it’s going to be exciting to be back home. We’ll be playing a team that has had their troubles as well,” he said.

Central lost a close game at Clarke a year ago, 27-24. The Eagles hope to reverse the outcome in front of a home crown on Saturday.

“We have a different team this year, and they have a different team this year. So, I think our guys are going to be ready to go.,” Brown said. “From a staff standpoint, we just have to do a better job preparing those guys to make sure we put them in the best position to be successful.”

Kickoff on Saturday is at 2 p.m. at Davis Field.