The sight of Emilio Guerrero pacing the sideline during pre-game warm-ups without pads underneath his purple No. 54 jersey unsettled Century's players.

It just didn't feel right for the Diamondbacks to face Hillcrest on Friday at Holt Arena without the injured senior linebacker/offensive lineman.

"Emilio Guerrero represents Century football in every way possible," senior running back/defensive back Rhys Borchert said. "He works harder than anyone else, and basically everyone on the team looks up to him. It was really hard to play without him."

Unfortunately, things got worse for Century on the injury front during its 36-6 loss. Already playing without Guerrero and with two-way lineman Jade Evans at half strength, the team also lost linebacker Nate Wall and lineman Sterling Ritcheson to leg injuries in the first quarter.

The decimated Diamondbacks ended up surrendering 425 rushing yards to the Knight's Wing-T offense. Still, Borchert and his teammates felt some vindication that they held the defending 4A state champion to its third-lowest point total of the season, with only Idaho Falls and Skyline (both 5A schools) having managed to do better.

"You know, we battled," Borchert said. "Even though we lost on the scoreboard, it kind of says we got beat bad, but I think the starters that were in there are really confident that if we play them again with our whole team, we'll be able to beat them."

Wall's injury meant Century's entire starting linebacking corps was on the bench for the rest of the game, while Ritcheson's departure further thinned its lines.

As a result, the Diamondbacks (4-3) simply couldn't stop the Knights' relentless ground attack. Hillcrest (6-1) never once attempted a pass. In fact, it lined up with wide receivers only twice all game. The rest of the time, the Knights were content pitching and handing the ball off to senior backs Devin Droghei and Jordan Speirs, who each scored two touchdowns.

Of the pair's 50 carries, only six went for longer than 10 yards. But the two consistently carved out chunks of yards in between the tackles and kept the chains moving. The results were a 14-play, 54-yard drive in the first quarter that lasted 7:18, a 13-play, 61-yard drive in the second that stretched for 6:15 and a 13-play, 69-yard drive in the third that spanned 6:24.

That eventually wore down the short-handed Diamondbacks.

"We had basically 11 guys going back and forth. Not much we can do," senior fullback/linebacker Orie Katsilometes said. "It was pretty difficult. We tried to recover as quick as we could while we were running off the field, but before you know it … I think our boys played pretty tough for what we had."

All that time spent playing defense affected Century's rhythm on offense. Borchert reeled off a 24-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive to give the Diamondbacks a 6-0 lead, but they turned the ball over on downs on their other three first-half drives. Their three drives after halftime were three-and-outs.

Hillcrest finished with 71 plays on offense to Century's 33.

"We just couldn't finish off drives," Borchert said. "There were a couple of times we got down to the 20-yard line, and we just couldn't finish off drives. If we would do that, we would have had a better chance of winning this game."

That, again, had a lot to do with the holes in their lineup.

Century coach Nate Borchert said Ritcheson's knee injury likely has ended his season. But he sounded confident Guerrero, Evans and Wall will recover in time for next week's crucial Fifth District showdown with Pocatello.

Both the Gate City's 4A teams have sealed a spot in the playoffs, but the winner of next week's game clinches the district title and gets to play its first-round game at Holt Arena.

"These guys are resilient," Nate Borchert said. "We've been beat up before. We've recovered. These guys are battlers. They're not going to back down. They may be a little beat up or injured, but they'll be ready to go when it comes to game time next Friday."

Hillcrest 36, Century 6

Hillcrest 8 8 8 12 - 36

Century 6 0 0 0 - 6

Scoring summary

C - Rhys Borchert 24 run (kick blocked)

H - Devin Droghei 4 run (Devin Droghei run)

H - Jordan Speirs 1 run (Brent Johnson run)

H - Johnny Griffiths 1 run (Jordan Speirs run)

H - Jordan Speirs 1 run (run failed)

H - Devin Droghei 61 run (kicked failed)

Individual statistics

Rushing: Century - Terrance Quenton 2-12, Rhys Borchert 4-28, Michael Semons 2-12, Trevor Meldrum 1-(-4), Hunter Jungenberg 4-8, Sonny Vialpondo 2-(-2). Hillcrest - Devin Droghei 26-194, Jordan Speirs 24-129, Jake Belnap 7-33, Johnny Griffiths 3-11, Brent Johnson 1-2, Shane Bailey 2-6, Vo Sephilons 2-2, Schyler Odum 5-48, Team 1-0.

Passing: Century - Michael Semons 7-18-59-0-0.

Receiving: Century - Rhys Borchert 2-20, Trevor Meldrum 2-12. Ty Ravsten 1-14, Dericc Clauson 1-12, Terrance Quenton 1-1.