Cape Central football pieced together perhaps the most complete performance of its undefeated season on Friday night, and still wasn’t totally satisfied.

All-state running back Keyshawn Boyd carved up the Sikeston defensive front behind three touchdowns as Cape Central routed the Bulldogs 56-16 at Tiger Stadium.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Boyd said. “I don't think we are near our peak yet. We still a lot of pieces to fill and a lot of work to put in.”

Cape Central (3-0, 1-0) has outscored its opponents 133-16 through the first three weeks of the season and are 3-0 for the first time since 2017.

“We started like we needed to start,” head coach Kent Gibbs said. “We played clean football and that's what we've talked about. We had 18 penalties the first two games, which was too many. So I appreciated how we came out. We played hard from the whistle and didn't make the mistakes that we've been making.”

The Tigers were dominant from the start and didn’t let up, predictably in a matchup featuring two old Southeast Missouri rivals.

“We had a sluggish week of practice,” Boyd said. “Then Thursday morning practice we kind of pick it up and we knew we could beat them. It's a rivalry game, so I knew they were gonna try to bring their best game against us because it’s the Battle of I-55. That's a big win for us.”

And an utterly dominant one at that.

Boyd and Co. didn’t waste much time seizing control as senior quarterback Deklin Pittman threw a dart to wide receiver Paul Tran for a 77-yard touchdown on the first play of the game.

Two Cape Central offensive plays later, Pittman followed it up with an electrifying 45-yard rushing touchdown, where he stiff-armed a defender to the turf before scampering into the end zone. Senior Zai’Aire Thomas posted a 10-yard touchdown reception on the ensuing possession.

Boyd then took the game over with his legs and padded his stats behind three straight rushing touchdowns. Sophomore running back Kenny Lewis joined the party with a rushing touchdown of his own to make it 49-3 at the half.

Cape Central’s suffocating defense did not skip a beat Friday either and locked in all game. Sikeston was up against the wall all four quarters, mustering less than 60 yards of total offense in the first half and not reaching the red zone until late in the third quarter.

Defensive back Gavin Pittman tallied his first interception of the season on the first play of the second quarter, which led to a Tiger touchdown. Linebacker Shawn Shelton, who entered the game with a team-high 17 tackles, returned a blocked punt for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

And though Cape Central has not had a stiff test yet, what’s becoming clear as the season progresses is a much-improved defense has a chance to make this a truly special year for Gibbs’ team, which is taking dead aim at a Class 5 state title.

“I think the big thing is the weight room has helped us so much with our kids,” Gibbs said. “All 11 of them are really, really aggressive, and as long as you can be aggressive on defense and that strength level is where it needs to be, you're going to make plays. I keep saying this, but if you look, there's six or seven, sometimes eight, black helmets on the ball carrier. You're going to play good defense and that's what we've done to start with.”

There is no doubt the Tigers have been rolling, with Friday serving as more of a tune-up game before the team begins its challenging mid-season stretch starting with Poplar Bluff next week.

Gibbs said that the coaches and players will take the same exact approach as any week.

“We pretty much do same thing every week,” he said. “It’s just about getting better every practice. And whether it's a Thursday morning practice or through the week, you just try and work on the techniques. It's still about blocking, tackling, alignments, and assignments, and those are the kind of things that we're just trying to get better at each week. That's what we'll continue to do.”

Cape Central’s road test at Poplar Bluff next Friday, Sept. 20 will kick off at 7 p.m. The Tigers fell to the Mules 42-35 in overtime last season.

Sikeston hosts Malden next Friday at 7 p.m.