CENTRAL LAKE -- The showdown of the unbeatens came down to the wire Friday.
Host Central Lake scored with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter and then held off a late Forest Area drive for a 34-30 Ski Valley Conference win.
The Trojans (2-0, 3-0) led 21-0 early before the Warriors (2-1, 2-1) charged back to take a 30-28 lead in the fourth quarter.
Central Lake rallied when senior quarterback Travis Rogers found Jared Danbert on a 58-yard touchdown strike for the 34-30 lead.
Rogers -- who got his second start for the injured Ryan Crawley -- was 8-for-11 passing for 238 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. Jarod Steenwyk hauled in four catches for 101 yards and three scores while Danbert had 16 carries for 119 yards to go with his two receptions for 63 yards and two TDs.
Defensively, Nolan Howes had 20 tackles for Central Lake while Rogers had 15 tackles and Dambert added 10 tackles with an interception.
MORE SKI VALLEY
Gaylord St. Mary 18
Mancelona 13
Arron Sitkiewicz ran for three touchdowns to lead Gaylord St. Mary to an 18-13 win over Mancelona.
The Snowbirds (3-0, 3-0 Ski Valley) went up 18-0 on Sitkiewicz' third TD run 34 seconds into the fourth quarter.
But Mancelona came back on a four-yard TD run by Tyler Hartzell, got the ball back on a Hartzell fumble recovery and pulled within a single score on a Greg Blanco 19-yard touchdown run with 4:59 left.
Cody Balhorn ran for 69 yards on just six carries and Nick Lockman had three catches for 46 yards for the Ironmen (1-2, 1-1). Blanco had 14 tackles and Balhorn 13.
Onaway 19
Bellaire 12
Jan O'Bradovich ran for three touchdowns and led Onaway on defense with 12 tackles as the Cardinals topped Bellaire, 19-12.
O'Bradovich carried the ball 13 times for 141 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 5, 36 and 1 yards.
Bryan Tucker, who had 10 carries for 70 yards, added eight tackles for Onaway (1-2, 1-2 Ski Valley).
Cory Grossman, who passed for 51 yards, had six tackles and an interception on defense. Logan Wilkinson and Tucker added fumble recoveries.
Sean Payne had both rushing touchdowns for Bellaire (1-2, 1-2).
BIG NORTH
Petoskey 55
Gaylord 35
Petoskey returned two third quarter interceptions for touchdowns to help wipe out a 35-21 halftime deficit en route to a 55-35 Big North Conference win over Gaylord.
Mike Suter returned one of the picks 27 yards for a score while Nick Moore took the other 38 yards.
Suter was one of two Petoskey (1-0, 3-0) backs to go over 100 yards. He finished with 139 yards in 22 attempts. He scored four times, including the interception. James Proctor added 102 yards in 19 carries. He scored twice. B.J. Vanslembrouck contributed 89 yards in eight attempts. He scored on a 66-yard burst.
Petoskey scored four touchdowns in a 21/2-minute span in the second half.
Gaylord (0-1, 0-3) quarterback Nick Freeman completed 20 of 38 passes for 349 yards and five touchdowns. All of his scoring strikes were in the first half.
Mike Taubitz led the Vikings with 11 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
Quinn Woodhouse snatched four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.
NORTHWEST
Glen Lake 27
Benzie Central 6
Elliott Clark was Mr. Multi-Purpose for Glen Lake in a 27-6 win over Benzie Central.
With the game tied 6-6, Clark returned a punt 46 yards, caught a 41-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage and then kicked the extra point to put the Lakers (2-1) up 13-6.
Clark ended with four catches for 96 yards and a pair of TDs from quarterback Nate Sneed. Joey Czapek ran 18 times for 154 yards and a TD. Sneed ran for a 2-yard TD.
John Bunek led the Glen Lake defense with 14 tackles, Ryan Bronson added 12 and Mike McDonald had 10 stops, an interception and a fumble recovery.
Benzie's Dajon Weston scored in the first quarter on a 48-yard TD run. He finished with 67 yards in nine carries.
Mark Michalak had nine tackles and Jake Jeske eight for the Huskies.
Kingsley 28
Suttons Bay 13
Kingsley scored three times on fourth down in the first half to get past Suttons Bay in the Northwest Conference opener for both teams, 28-13.
Suttons Bay took a 13-6 lead on Nick Porritt's second touchdown run to lead 13-6 with 10:05 left in the first half.
Kingsley (2-1) went down the field and scored with 2:51 left in the half on a 20-yard pass from Josh Nix to Tommy Sedlacek. The Stags recovered the kickoff and scored on a 3-yard pass from Nix to Sedlacek with 24 seconds remaining before intermission.
Kingsley scored the only touchdown in the second half on an 81-yard run by Dave Zaleski, who had 170 yards on 16 carries.
Maurice Sims had 16 carries for 90 yards and scored on a 12-yard touchdown run in the first half to give the Stags the Little Brown Jug.
Nix was 7 of 10 passing for 61 yards with Sedlacek catching five for 51.
Sims added nine tackles and Kirk Turner nine tackles and an interception.
Porritt finished with 16 carries for 178 yards for Suttons Bay (1-2). Adam Krantz led the defense with 11 tackles while Pete Bumgardner, Gabe Gallagher and Ben Walters had 10.
Frankfort 33
Mesick 7
Wade Luxford rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns to spark Frankfort to a 33-7 Northwest Conference win over Mesick.
Luxford scored on runs of 3, 5 and 70 yards.
Devin Gokey, who rushed for 116 yards, scored on a five-yard run for the Panthers (1-0, 2-1) while Dan Nugent tallied from 13 yards.
Kyle Brouillet, who added a two-point conversion, was the third Frankfort back to go over 100 yards. He finished with 108 yards on the ground.
Mesick's Ben Brown and Cody Simerson hooked up on a nine-yard scoring strike for the game's first score.
Nugent led the Panthers defense with eight tackles. Chris Tondu added seven.
LAKE MICHIGAN
Elk Rapids 48
Kalkaska 12
Elk Rapids won its Lake Michigan Conference opener with a 48-12 decision over Kalkaska.
The Blazers (0-3) kept it close through the first half, trailing 21-12 at the intermission.
The Elks (3-0, 1-0 LMC) went up 13-0 on TD runs by Derek Sentieri (five yards) and Jimmy Armstrong (six) before Kalkaska's Luke Gillespie broke off a 63-yard TD run late in the first quarter.
Sentieri added a 17-yard TD run and a conversion run and the Blazers' Blake Gruse struck on a one-yard plunge in the second period.
The second half was all Elks.
Sentieri lunged in from a yard out and Ryan Forfinski added the extra point in the third quarter and Elk Rapids tacked on three more TDs in the fourth quarter on runs by Tyler Smith (three yards), Sentieri (six) and Armstrong (11).
Armstrong ran 13 times for 100 yards, Smith had 96 yards on 12 carries and Alex Bethke had 70 yards on nine rushes.
Charlie Hoch caught six passes for 155 yards.
Gillespie ran for 147 yards. Jake Royston led the defense with nine tackles. Caleb Fast had 167 return yards.
Charlevoix 42
Grayling 20
Michael Heckendorn ran for 177 yards and two touchdowns as Charlevoix defeated Grayling 42-20 in a Lake Michigan Conference clash.
The Rayders (1-0, 2-1) intercepted four Jimmy Osga passes, including the first three he attempted. Jon Putman returned one for a touchdown.
Quarterback Clayton Mitchell completed 7 of 12 passes for 70 yards. He also scored three times on the ground. Putman hauled in six passes for 62 yards. He finished with two picks.
Brandon Darrah led the Rayders defense with 12 tackles. Brock Yenglin added seven tackles and a pick.
Tyler Hanson rushed 14 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns for Grayling (0-1, 2-1). He also caught five passes for 75 yards and one score, that coming on a 10-yard strike to Tyler Steffey. Osga passed for 171 yards.
MID-STATE
Vestaburg 36
Onekama 12
Vestaburg bolted to a 30-0 lead at half en route to a 36-12 win over Onekama.
Dan Gillespie connected with Adrian Norman on a 40-yard touchdown for the Portagers (2-1) while Joerdan Daldos scampered in from 12 yards.
For more prep football coverage, see
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