MUNCIE, Ind. — It was a day of lopsided outcomes for Tri-Eastern Conference football teams Saturday at Ball State, and those from Wayne County got an even taste of both sides.

Centerville and Northeastern both earned big wins with nearly identical scores to start the day. Hagerstown and Lincoln faltered in the back half to make Wayne County teams 2-2 in the first TEC Day at Ball State since 2018. Here’s a brief rundown of each game:

The Bulldogs got their offense going early and often. Jake Tinkle connected with Evan Pritchard for about 20 yards and the game’s first score. After the defense forced a turnover on downs, Centerville took advantage of good field position and extended the lead with a rushing touchdown from Aiden Hoelscher.

Union City returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the end zone for its first score. The Bulldogs answered quickly, as Owen Boyd scored right before the end of the first quarter. Centerville led 21-8 after the first frame.

Boyd reached the end zone again about halfway through the second quarter. The defense forced a fumble, and the Bulldogs, once again, had a good scoring chance in front of them. They capitalized again, as Tinkle found Nathan Dickenson for a touchdown.

A few minutes later, Boyd returned a punt all the way to the end zone, but a penalty negated the touchdown. Boyd scored anyway, as Tinkle connected with him for his third touchdown of the game. Centerville led 43-8 at halftime, meaning there would be a running clock in the second half due to the 35-point lead.

'Just glad to be here':Alex Goodwin wanted to have fun at state, and that’s what she did

Union City fumbled on the opening kickoff of the second half, and Brayden Ross picked it up and nearly scored but was stopped at the 2-yard line. Collin Clark ran it in from there.

Jake Crowe was a one-man wrecking crew on the next defensive possession, as he jumped the snap, forced a fumble and recovered it at the Indians’ 15-yard line. After a penalty set the Bulldogs back a few yards, Hoelscher broke free for a 33-yard touchdown. Centerville led 56-8 after three quarters.

The backups got some playing time in the fourth quarter. Ethan Moore scored the lone touchdown of the frame, and Centerville came away with a 63-8 win.

Tinkle completed 14 of 19 passes for 218 yards and four touchdowns. Hoelscher led the rushing attack with 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Dickenson’s 114 receiving yards led all players, and he added one touchdown. Boyd found the end zone three times, twice through the air and once on the ground. Clark led the defense with 11 tackles. Crowe had the team’s only sack. Crowe and Ross each forced a fumble.

This was a statement win for the Bulldogs. After losing to Northeastern two weeks ago and only scoring 27 points last week against Union County, their performance Saturday let everyone know they’re not going anywhere.

“That’s what I said before the game was that we need a statement victory here,” Centerville head coach Ryan Cole said. “Offensively, we played really well. Defensively, we played really well. That was what we wanted to do coming out today.”

The Knights’ offense also got off to a hot start. Dylan Isaacs ran 39 yards down the sideline for the game’s first score. On the first play after receiving a punt, Carson Terrell connected with Noah Ammerman for another score from 26 yards out.

A couple possessions later, Terrell passed to Eli Hemmelgarn, powered through multiple defenders for a 15-yard touchdown. Northeastern led 21-0 after the first quarter.

Earlier:Northeastern football ready to ‘show the county what we’re made of’ against Centerville

The Knights blocked a punt to start the second quarter, and Caleb Harmon jumped on it in the end zone for a touchdown. Zane Schneider ran it in from 12 yards out on the next possession to make it 35-0.

The shutout ended on the following kickoff, as Knightstown ran it all the way back. The Knights answered with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Terrell to Ammerman. Terrell then hooked up with Conner Archie on a 49-yard screen pass where Archie broke five tackles before falling over the goal line for a touchdown. That led to a 48-6 halftime score and another running clock in the second half.

Northeastern put in the reserves for the second half. Blake Waters threw a 25-yard touchdown to Kale Hansen for the third quarter’s lone score, and Nathan Darnell scored the only touchdown of the fourth quarter. The Knights finished things up with a 61-6 victory.

Terrell wound up with 248 passing yards and four touchdowns. Ammerman caught two of those scores to go along with 138 receiving yards.

Northeastern remains atop the TEC standings and will share at least a share of the conference championship with a win over Hagerstown next week.

“We know we’re playing for a conference championship,” Northeastern head coach Wes Oler said. “To have that still on the table in week nine — that was one of the seniors’ big goals to put ourselves in position to check that box.”

The Tigers couldn’t get anything going offensively against the Titans, and they rarely had the ball with enough time to do any damage. Tri just about used up half of the first quarter with its first possession, which ended in a touchdown.

Tri used the same clock-milking strategy to 28-0 lead at halftime. A quick score to start the second half started the third running clock in as many games. One more touchdown in the third quarter pushed the score to 41-0, and that’s where it stayed for the rest of the game.

Despite the loss, Kayne Ervin completed 16 of 23 passes for 119 yards. Aiden Grover racked up 92 all-purpose yards, 47 rushing and 45 receiving. Peyton Meyer and Isaac Schmitz led the defense with eight tackles apiece. Mason Bowlin had two tackles for loss, followed by Schmitz, Riley Gross, Zach Golliher and Roy Thornbury each with one.

While Saturday didn’t go as planned, Hagerstown will have a chance to play spoiler to Northeastern’s TEC championship run this Friday.

Local:Wayne County's 2 state legislators face Democratic challengers

“I felt like the kids played hard,” Hagerstown head coach Scott Snodgrass said. “We knew Tri was a good team coming in, and we knew it was going to be a physical game … They’re big, and strong and fast. There’s not much to say about it other than that.”

The Golden Eagles did their best to keep Winchester from making it four running clocks in four games, and they did for most of the evening.

The Falcons led 21-0 after the first quarter and were on their way to a 35-point lead at the half, but Evan Stuckey intercepted a pass at the goal line with just over a minute left to keep hope alive.

Winchester scored on its first drive of the second half but missed the extra point to make it a 34-0 game.

Local:Pal-Item readers submit opinions on Nov. 8 election

Lincoln started to turn things around when Tyler Wyles faked a punt and passed for a first down. Gavin Trent then broke free for 37 yards to set the Golden Eagles up at the 12-yard line. A few plays later, Trent capped off the drive with a touchdown run for their first score. Trent connected with Stuckey on the two-point conversion to make it 34-8.

Winchester answered with a touchdown of its own, and Trent blocked the extra point. Trent was back at it on the next drive. He scrambled for 19 yards and dove over the goal line as time expired in the third quarter. Trent completed the conversion pass to Wyles to make it 40-16.

From there, Winchester put the game to bed, scoring two more touchdowns, the second coming with less than two minutes left to start the running clock. The Falcons closed it out with a 54-16 win. That brought Lincoln’s record to 0-8 on the season.

“We’ve been working with a small group all season, but there’s some real grit there,” Lincoln head coach Danny Capps said. “We’re not winning on the scoreboard, but every game, we’re getting better at different things.”

Zach Piatt reports on sports and education for The Palladium-Item. Contact him at zpiatt@gannett.com or on Twitter @zachpiatt13.