LocalSportsJournal.com
SCOTTVILLE – The Mason County Central football team won their fourth straight game, cruising to a 50-13 win over Hesperia on Friday in a West Michigan Conference Rivers division contest.
And it was a huge offensive evening for Peyton Merz, who rushed for 268 yards.
The Spartans jumped out to a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Eathen Huffman caught a 68-yard pass from Pierce Bladzik for a touchdown and Peyton Merz scored on a 53-yard run.
Mason County Central extended its lead to 43-6 at halftime, scoring all four touchdowns in the second quarter.
Drake McKay scored on a 1-yard run, Merz added two touchdown runs from 63 and 42 yards out, and the Spartans recovered a fumble and ran it 8 yards for a score.
McKay scored the lone touchdown in the third quarter from 17 yards out to give the Spartans a 50-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Hesperia scored the only touchdown during the fourth quarter.
Merz rushing yards came on 16 attempts. He also scored three touchdowns. McKay had 23 yards on the ground on three attempts while scoring two touchdowns.
Bladzik went 4-for-6 passing for 116 yards and a touchdown, Huffman caught two passes for 77 yards and a score. He also led the team with five tackles.
Hesperia was led by Blake Sayer at quarterback, going 7 of 15 passing for 108 yards with a pair of TD’s and one interception. Sayer also had eight rushes for 32 yards.
Ian Fox was the main receiver for the Panthers, making four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. Zach Loughridge had two catches for 44 yards and also had a TD.
The Panthers’ ground attack was led by Skyler Stalbaum with 68 yards on 13 carries.
Slayer led Hesperia defensively with 10 tackles. Thor Klaus posted eight tackles, Stalbaum had six, Ben Westendorf had five while Zach Loughridge, Dom Rivera and Noah Walker each had three tackles.
The Spartans are now 6-1 on the season and 3-1 in league play. They will take on Shelby next Friday night. Hesperia is now 2-5 overall and 1-4 in the WMC Rivers action and will head to Hart next week.
Photos shot by Joe Washington.
