08/26/2006

Trojans post satisfying win, 40-6

Central Lake breezes to Ski Valley road win

By Mike Dunn

Special to the Record-Eagle

Special to the Record-Eagle/Mike Dunn
Central Lake quarterback Byron Patton threw for a pair of touchdowns in a win over Johannesburg-Lewiston.

JOHANNESBURG — The preseason coaches' poll had Central Lake pegged as the team to beat this season in the Ski Valley Conference.

The Trojans played like it in the opener at the field of conference rival Johannesburg-Lewiston.

The Trojans won 40-6 against the team that was picked by the coaches as the No. 2 team in the poll.

The victory was a sweet one for Central Lake head coach Adam Grybauskas and his returning varsity players, and not just because Johannesburg-Lewiston is a perennial playoff team and front-runner in the conference. What made this win even nicer was that it came at Johannesburg, the same place where the season ended in the first round of the playoffs the year before.

"We had a lot of inspiration for this one," a jubilant Grybauskas said after the game. "The players all remembered coming here and losing 38-22 to end the season last year. It was a heartbreaking loss but it gave us that much more motivation coming into this season.

"The seniors said, 'What better place to go and start things off.' They really wanted this one."

That was evident from the beginning. The Trojans scored on their first four possessions and took a commanding 26-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Senior tailback Cody Rogers, who finished with 160 yards rushing in 19 attempts, tallied on runs of 1 and 42 yards and was on the receiving end of an 8-yard screen pass from senior quarterback Byron Patton to stake the visitors to an early lead. Patton also tossed a 7-yard TD pass to tight end Brent Patton in the corner of the end zone to account for the other first-half touchdown.

The Cardinals stayed with Central Lake for a while, tying the score 6-6 with a methodical 13-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 1-yard plunge to pay dirt by hard-driving junior running back Chris Reick.

Mistakes killed Johannesburg. Twice the Cardinals gave Central Lake the ball inside the 20-yard line after the ball was snapped over the head of the punter. Twice, the Trojans capitalized and put points on the scoreboard.

"We didn't execute at times and we made mistakes that hurt us," said veteran Johannesburg head coach Fred Davis. "We had three sophomores on the line playing their first varsity game and two tight ends playing a new position.

"We gave (Central Lake) the ball three times inside the 15-yard line and those are things you just can't do, especially against an experienced team."

Central Lake had the Cardinals on the ropes and kept up the pressure in the second half. When a long initial drive fizzled deep in Cardinal territory, Central Lake got the ball right back and scored anyhow.

Rogers, who plays cornerback on defense, intercepted a pass intended for Shane Kwapis down the right sideline and returned the ball inside the 5-yard line. On the next play, Rogers scored his fourth touchdown of the game, following a key block by sophomore fullback Nolan Howes. Brent Patton's PAT made it 33-6 with 3:57 left in the quarter.

Central Lake added one more score in the fourth quarter when reserve tailback Landon Waller capped a 68-yard drive with a 3-yard yard.

Cal Sundberg was the Cardinals leading rusher with 55 yards in 11 carries.

Linebackers Brent Patton and Zach Light led the Trojans with 17 and 13 tackles, respectively and Waller, who plays outside linebacker, recorded two sacks.