LocalSportsJournal.com

HESPERIA — The Mason County Central Spartans quickly turned Friday night’s game into a rout.

Jumping out to a 26-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, Mason County Central ran away with a 47-0 victory over Hesperia on the road.

It was a West Michigan Conference Rivers Division contest.

Quentin Lange was one of two Spartans who split time at the tailback position with their regular starter out with an injury. He scored two of those touchdowns.

The first came on the opening kickoff, which Lange hauled in and raced 85 yards to the end zone and that set the tone for the rest of the soggy evening.

Dominic Greco added the point after and the Spartans had a 7-0 lead before the fans were settled into their seats.

It was all Mason County Central from that point on.

“We played pretty well for the most part,” said Spartans coach David Smith. “Our main tailback’s out, so we had a couple guys split a little duty at tailback and they did a pretty good.

“We had a couple mistakes, but for the most part we played hard. And got out (of the game) healthy, that’s the main thing.”

Lange’s second touchdown – he had three for the night – came on a 21-yard run, and again Greco kicked the extra point and the lead went up to 14-0.

Tyler Norton hit paydirt on an 18-yard run. Greco’s kick was no good, but the Spartans had taken command with a 20-0 lead.

Still in the first quarter, Gus McLouth went in from 14 yards out and this time the Spartans tried for two, but were stopped short. The game remained 26-0 at the close of the first half.

After the Spartans got two more points on a safety to start the third quarter, quarterback Pierce Bladzik tossed a 37-yard pass to Colton Sanders and Greco’s point after made it 35-0 after three.

Lange found the end zone again in the fourth quarter with a 49-yard run, but the two-point conversion pass was incomplete which made it 41-0.

“We opened up some holes,” Smith said of the Spartans’ line. “When it’s raining and they’re coming with a full house, I used Quentin because he has a lot of speed on the outside. It was a pretty good overall performance. Hesperia is struggling. That was a team (where) we had to go in and take care of business.

“For the most part, we did that. Still, like always, we have things to work on. They ran a couple things that we didn’t adjust to (right away).”

Norton finished the night with 105 yards rushing on 16 carries to lead the Spartans, while Lange added 49 on four pitches and McLouth added 14 on four tries.

Bladzik completed 6-of-11 passes for 99 yards and two TDs. Sanders had two receptions for 63 yards and Huffman two for 22 yards.

Ethan Domin led the defense with nine tackles and a safety, Drake McKay finished with seven with a sack and tackle for loss, McLouth added six with one sack and a fumble recovery and five tackles for loss and Sanders made five stops with one sack and one tackle for loss.

The Spartans outgained the Panthers, 349-79 in total offense. Hesperia had just 55 yards rushing and 24 passing.

Mason County Central improved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the WMC Rivers. The Spartans host Shelby in another conference game next Friday.

Hesperia fell to 1-6 on the season and 0-4 in the conference. The Panthers host Hart next Friday in another conference game.