Warriors look to KLAA season after win against Novi

Walled Lake Western scored 50 points on the road for the second-straight week, as the Warriors toppled Novi, 50-25, on Thursday, Sept. 1.

The Warriors are 2-0 and will begin Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) North Division play on Friday, Sept. 9, when they travel to Waterford Kettering.

Against Novi, the Warriors had a 22-0 lead late in the second quarter before Derek Ince threw a touchdown pass to Derek Cingel for Novi’s first score.

The Wildcats then blocked a punt on Western’s next drive and Ince made the Warriors pay with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jocz to pull the Wildcats within 9 points at halftime, 22-13.

In the second half, Western’s defense stepped up as Jordan Audritsh intercepted Ince on Novi’s first drive of the third quarter and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown.

Audritsh also blocked a punt in the win.

The Warriors then held ground when Novi (0-2) went for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 30-yard line on its second drive. Kyle Bambard then kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Warriors at 32-13 lead.

Ince then threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jocz just before the end of the third quarter, but Western outscored Novi 18-6 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

The Warriors had 290 yards of total offense compared to 145 for Novi. Western also held Novi to -35 rushing yards.

The Warriors’ Brent Zdebski rushed for 92 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns — in addition to finishing with 7 total tackles, including a sack, and 2 assists on defense.

Western quarterback CJ McGorisk completed 4-of-7 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns while Cam Vieaux caught 3 passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Bambard also scored a rushing touchdown for Western in addition to kicking field goals from 32 and 42 yards out.

On defense, Nick Denney had 3 sacks while Ty Sickler had 5 solo tackles and Michael Condon and Jason Gamble each had a sack.

Now the Warriors will look forward to opening their KLAA North Division schedule against Kettering this week.

“The KLAA is a whole new season. It’s a competitive group of teams — sometimes it’s tough, sometimes it’s tougher,” said Western Head Coach Mike Zdebski. “I like how physical we are. When they get a chance to put a hit on a kid, they put a hit on. Our kids put so much time in during the summer, we can refer to our basic rules. They’re very football-smart.”