LocalSportsJournal.com
 
SCOTTVILLE – A pair of founding members of the original West Michigan Conference renewed acquaintances Friday night when Mason County Central hosted Hart in a non-conference clash.
 
Winning teams know that to be successful, you have to dominate the line of scrimmage, which normally translates into controlling the time of possession and eating up the clock.
 
The Spartans, who are having one of their best seasons in a number of years, did just and scored touchdowns frequently enough to top the visiting Pirates, 35-12.
 
Peyton Merz got the Spartans on the board when, after a couple of empty possessions, he took the ball in from 2 yards out on third down. Although the kick of the extra point failed, Central led 6-0 with just 16.2 seconds left in the first.
 
Kyle Peterson presented the Spartans with their next scoring opportunity when he intercepted a Hart pass and was dropped at the Pirates’ 4-yard line. It took the Spartans just two plays to reach paydirt, with Merz toting the ball on both, including the last yard for the touchdown.
 
Eathen Huffman’s reception on the 2-point conversion made it 14-0 for Central with 11:07 on the clock before half.
 
Hart got on the board at the 7:34 mark in the second quarter with Keagan Moore finishing things off with a 1-yard run following a quarterback keeper by Kolton Rockwell to make it a 14-6 game.
 
But, the Spartans answered when Merz punched it in a 1-yard run, and quarterback Pierce Bladzik tossed a 2-point conversion pass to Eli Smith to increase Central’s lead to 22-6 at the half.
 
The Spartans boosted their advantage to 29-6 with 9:48 left in the third quarter on a scoring pass from Bladzik to Lange and Dominic Greco kicked the extra point.
 
Hart scored for the final time when, at the 3:37 mark of the third, Halen Boos ran one in to cut the Spartans’ lead to 29-12.
 
Kirchner added the final score of the game with a touchdown run for the Spartans with 6:03 remaining in the contest.
 
Central’s dominance was shown in the final statistics, as the Spartans ran 70 offensive plays for a total of 304 yards, while Hart gained 157 yards on 43 plays.
 
Central’s Bladzik was 4-for-11 passing for 50 yards and one touchdown. Merz had 29 carries in the game for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Merz surpassed 1,000 yards rushing this season in Friday’s game. Drake McKay, in his first game back after missing several with an injury, ran the ball seven times for 43 yards.
 
It was Central’s third straight win and lifts the Spartans record to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the WMC Rivers. The Spartans host Hesperia next week.
 
Hart fell to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the WMC Rivers. The Pirates are idle next week and return to WMC Rivers play by hosting Hesperia on Friday, Oct. 18.