Central's offense overpowers Caps in 49-14 home win

Walled Lake Central took care of business at home with a 49-14 victory over Waterford Kettering on Friday, Sept. 16.

The win keeps the Vikings in a tie with Walled Lake Western atop the Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) North Division with a 2-0 record in division play.

Central (3-1 overall, 2-0 in the KLAA North) quarterback Zac Leimbach finished with 191 yards rushing on 9 carries with 3 touchdowns in addition to completing 5-of-12 passes for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“It was a phenomenal game by Zac Leimbach,” Central Head Coach Robert Meyer said. “I am pleased with performance of the kids. We are continuing to improve and march towards our goal of winning our third straight division title.”

Leimbach kicked off the scoring in the first quarter with a 61-yard touchdown run for an early 7-0 lead.

Kettering’s (0-4, 0-2) standout running back, Justin Santana, answered with a 6-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.

Leimbach’s two touchdown passes came in the second quarter, with the first coming on a 24-yard completion to K.J. Schultz and the other coming on a 13-yard pass to Darrell Williams, as the Vikings led 21-7 at halftime.

Leimbach kept rolling in the third quarter as he scored on a 53-yard touchdown run.

Santana then answered for the Captains with a 6-yard touchdown run, which was set up by an 80-yard kickoff return by Alec Spurlock.

Curtis Booth got into the act for Central as he ran 54 yards for a touchdown.

Leimbach then ran 58 yards for a touchdown to give Central a 42-14 lead at the end of the third quarter, effectively sinking the Captains’ ship.

Nick Krumm scored the only touchdown of the fourth quarter for the Vikings on a 7-yard run.

“Central was simply too overpowering the remainder of the game. They have an excellent running game and simply wore us down in the long run,” said Kettering Head Coach Mike Fras. “Our offensive line played their best game of the season with Daulton Arthur, Danny Stieler, Joey Yudasz, Mark Hollingsworth, and Brett Reynolds leading blocking up front. Our offensive line coach, Mark Grattan, has done a fantastic job improving our technique every week.”

Eric Monville had 8 tackles and an interception for the Captains, while Dylan Denomme and Alex Kinney each had 6 tackles and Brent Mortimore had 5 tackles.

The Vikings will look to continue their strong play on Friday, Sept. 23 when they visit winless Waterford Mott.

Meanwhile, Kettering will face another tough road test when it visits Huron Valley Lakeland on Friday.