The St. Paul Central offense has too many weapons to count on one hand.

But the Minutemen defense has only one engine.

That combustable drive presented itself again Friday night at Minneapolis Washburn, where Central senior Taariq Hutchinson-Carroll made a statement of his own in the Minutemen’s 44-7 thrashing of the host Millers (3-3, 3-2).

Hutchinson-Carroll, a 5-foot-10, 203 pound defensive tackle, finished with two sacks, more than a dozen tackles, a safety and a blocked punt he returned 28 yards for a touchdown. By then, Central was already ahead 28-0, but it proved to be a punishing stretch for the Washburn offense, capped off with safety that set up another Central touchdown a little more than a minute later.

By game’s end, Hutchinson-Carroll (eight points) would out-produce the sum of Washburn’s offense (six points) and special teams (one) combined.

“I couldn’t believe I got a piece of it, I didn’t think I would,” Hutchinson-Carroll said of the blocked punt. “I saw it touch my hands, and I felt it. Then I saw it in front of me…nobody was around me, so I picked it up and took off.”

The blocked punt and return set off a furious five minutes for the Minutemen, who saw their three-touchdown lead more than double. After taking almost an entire quarter to get its offense up and moving, Central led 21-0 at the half, and then erupted for 23 points in the third frame to put the game away.

After a timid and less than sharp start on both sides of the ball, the Central defense started finding more penetration from the second quarter on, and the Minutemen line was able to pester and routinely flush Washburn’s quarterbacks from the pocket.

A tip of the hat to the defensive line, Central coach Scott Howell said.

“The defense played really, really well, and it all starts up front with Taariq,” he said. “When he gets going, it gets everyone else involved.”

Central senior quarterback Sam Grubbrud finished the game with two touchdowns and 224 yards through the air after completing 15 of 30 attempts. On the ground, he added another TD as the Minutemen used multiple means of moving the ball.

Eight different backs toted the ball for Central, while Grubbrud connected with five different receivers for the game. On this night, Owen Donnelly would serve as his favorite target as the two connected six times for 68 yards and a touchdown. Also, wideout Abdi Muse caught four passes for 57 yards and a TD.

“We’re more balanced that we’ve ever been,” Howell said. “We’ve always been able to run the ball, but then our passing has been suspect. That’s not the case anymore, things have really changed.”

As the game wore on, Central threw more misdirection, more jet sweeps, more multiple handoffs…more of everything else meant to really challenge a defense’s ability to pick things up quickly. As Central gets more playmakers involved in the offense, the more opportunities present themselves.

“It opens up the field,” Grubbrud says. “We can go deep or short, left or right, whatever we need. And the line is really becoming good at pass blocking, and with that much time to throw, and so many quality receivers to work with, it’s been working great.”

The Minutemen, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A according to this week's Associated Press poll, improved its record to 6-0 on the season and maintained its place atop the Twin City Maroon subdistrict standings with a 4-0 mark.

With this latest victory, Central remains perfect with two games remaining on the schedule. St. Croix Lutheran will head to Central next week, with a Week 8 trip to St. Paul Highland Park to close out the regular season.

As the Minutemen ready to peak for the final push, Hutchinson-Carroll said the stakes are clear to everyone wearing black, red and white, but not least of which the 20 seniors, whose days are numbered.

“We’ve got a big group of seniors, and we know we only have so many practices left,” Hutchinson-Carroll says. “There’s no reason not to give 110 percent.”

St. Paul Central thoroughly controlled play on both sides of the ball Friday night at Minneapolis Washburn, whipping the Millers 44-7 in what amounted to one-way traffic.

The Minutemen, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A according to this week's Associated Press poll, improved its record to 6-0 on the season and maintained its place atop the Twin City Maroon subdistrict standings.

Central senior quarterback Sam Grubbrud finished the game with two touchdowns and 186 yards through the air after completing 15 of 30 attempts. On the ground, he added another TD as the Minutemen used multiple means of moving the ball.

After taking almost an entire quarter to get its offense up and moving, Central led 21-0 at the half, and then erupted for 23 points in the third frame to put the game away.

Minutemen senior defensive tackle Taariq Hutchinson-Carroll came through with a big defensive effort, recording two sacks and returning a blocked punt 28 yards for a touchdown.

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