Stout defense and a second-half surge led the Central Bobcats past the Camelback Spartans 22-13 Friday in a non-conference matchup.

Both defenses came to play in this one, with the Camelback defense shutting out the Central offense in the first half while forcing Central (3-2) into a fumble on a kickoff and a muffed punt.

The Central defense had its own fun, shutting out Camelback (2-4) in the final three quarters of the game while intercepting Camelback quarterback Eric Marquez three times, recovering two fumbles, and blocking a field goal.

“We had a good game plan coming in," Camelback coach Joseph Brissette said on his team’s offensive struggles later in the game. "We just need to adjust better (in the second half).” Nothing showed the adjustments issue more than the yardage of Camelback running back Abukar Abdi. After rushing for 315 yards and four touchdowns last week vs. Alhambra, the senior tailback looked like he was off to another monster game with 115 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

His yardage in the second half? Negative two yards and zero touchdowns. That pretty much says it all on how the Camelback offense struggled after halftime.

Out of the gates, Central did not start out very well. A three-and-out on the first drive, the special teams mistakes, including the muffed punt and the fumble on the kickoff.

“I don’t know why we always start out slow on offense before we start picking it up,” Central coach Jon Clanton said on his team’s first-half struggles. “We had some missed opportunities. We just have got to get better.”

A 46-yard touchdown reception by Shawn Charles and a 10-yard touchdown run by Abdi led Camelback to a quick 13-0 first quarter lead, taking full advantage of the Bobcats’ miscues. Unfortunately for Camelback, those would be its last points scored for the rest of the game.

The Central defense would put up its first points of the night with Bobcats’ defensive end Clay Clanton stepping in front of an Eric Marquez pass and returning 40-yards for the touchdown.

“I knew that they were going to throw a lot of screens to No. 11," Clay Clanton said. "I watched them a lot versus Fairfax. I didn’t think I was going to catch it. I thought I was just going to bat it down, but getting the pick-six, I think it really turned the team around.”

That touchdown pulled Central to within one score, but it didn’t immediately break the Bobcats’ offense out of its lull, as Central would go into halftime still trailing 13-8.

After halftime though, Central looked renewed on offense. The Bobcats marched down the field out of the break and scored their first offensive touchdown of the night, a 14-yard run by sophomore running back Sayvin Thompson.

Two drives later, Bobcats quarterback Andrew Taylor took it in on a quarterback keeper from 1-yard out and pushed the lead to 22-13, where the score would stay for the rest of the night.

An interception of the Spartans’ Marquez on the final Camelback drive would seal the win for Central, a fitting end to a tough night for the junior quarterback. He would finish 11 for 36 passing for 207 yards and one touchdown to go with those three interceptions.

Camelback will travel to South Mountain (4-1) next week while Central hosts Alhambra (1-4).