WALLED LAKE – Stopping the Walled Lake Western offense has been an impossible task thus far for the Warriors’ opponents.

Walled Lake Central learned that the hard way on Friday when the two met for their annual rivalry game.

Averaging 40.3 points per game coming into Friday’s contest, the Warriors improved their scoring average with a 48-21 win over the Vikings.

“We executed very well in the first half,” Western coach Mike Zdebski said of his offense, which scored all 48 points in the first half. “We had some good reads. Central does what they do on defense and we wanted to try and execute what we do on offense and we were able to make some plays downfield.”

The scoring started quickly for the Warriors (7-0), as Cody White had a 30-yard touchdown run on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead.

Following a defensive stop, Western would go on to score four touchdowns over their next five offensive plays.

Jalen Marshall started the string on a 65-yard TD run to make it 14-0. A fumble recovery by the Western defense then set up a 61-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Thomas to White to make it 20-0.

The Warriors’ next offensive play had Thomas connect with Javon Gabriel for a 63-yard score to make it 27-0 and the two would connect again on a 30-yard score one play after the defense got a 4th and 1 stop.

“We just came out fast and that is what we wanted to do,” Thomas said. “We practiced hard all week and it showed.”

White would get in on the passing, as he took a handoff on the next Western possession and connected with Gabriel on a 50-yard touchdown pass. Thomas would get the final Western score of the game on a 7-yard run with 1:40 left in the half.

“We were very nervous about them,” Zdebski said Central, who had three of their losses come by 17 points or less. “They played Northern tight and they played Mott tight. They played everybody extremely tight. We were fortunate that we had a very good first half.”

Central (1-6, 1-4) got on the scoreboard in the second half for three touchdowns. Jack Gulvas hit Ryan Kalis on a 3-yard pass for the first score and then Jason Weber added a 30-yard TD run. The final touchdown came from Cameron Carothers, who scored on a 1-yard run.

Walled Lake Western finishes KLAA North play a perfect 5-0 and the Warriors will now play for the KLAA Lakes Conference Championship next Friday.

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