WALLED LAKE – Just like the first game this season against rival Walled Lake Northern, Walled Lake Western jumped out to a sizable lead in the second half during the rematch on Friday in a first round Division 2 state playoff game.

Unlike that initial meeting though, Western made sure there was no Northern comeback and subsequent nail-biting dramatics at the end. 

Western essentially copied the good and learned from the bad that took place in that first meeting, controlling the game from start-to-finish and earning a 33-9 win over Northern to open up what the Warriors hope is a deep playoff run. 

The Warriors (10-0) advanced to meet Birmingham Groves in a district final next week at Western. 

“When we were up big, we kind of stalled out and self-destructed,” said Western senior quarterback Kyle Thomas, referring to a 34-31 Western win over Northern in Week 6 that saw Western hold a 31-10 lead in the third quarter. “We came out fast like we always do and we said that once we came out fast, stay there and keep the foot on the pedal.”

A big reason why Western was able to pull off a more lopsided win in the rematch than in the first game, something that usually isn’t easy to do, was because of a defensive adjustment that slowed down the high-powered Northern attack.

“The first time we played them, we only threw one coverage at them,” Western head coach Mike Zdebski said. “This time, we came in and played multiple coverages. We changed up who had the quarterback and changed up who had the pitch. We are tough to run the ball on, so they threw the ball a lot more. We did much better with coverage and learned from the first time we played them.”

Western jumped on Northern early, scoring three touchdowns in the first 12:18 of the game to grab a 20-0 lead. 

The first score came on a 13-yard touchdown run by Jake Prokes with 9:36 left in the first quarter, the second was a 9-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Thomas to junior wideout Cody White with 2:30 to go in the first quarter and the third was a 54-yard touchdown run by Thomas with 11:42 remaining until halftime. 

Northern got on the board with 7:36 left in the first half on a 2-yard touchdown run by senior A.J. Chuchla, but Western increased its lead to 23-6 with 1:11 remaining in the half on a 35-yard field goal by John Camilleri. 

Following an interception deep in Western territory to start the second half, Northern cut its deficit to 23-9 with 10:01 left in the third quarter on a 37-yard field goal by Jack McKenna. 

Western answered with another field goal by Camilleri, this time from 34 yards out, to take a 26-9 lead with 7:56 left in the third quarter.

Western salted the game away on the first play of the fourth quarter when Prokes scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Warriors a 33-9 lead. 

Northern (6-4) did mount four drives inside the Western 20-yard line, but had to settle for field goals on three of them, only making one. 

“They did some things to us coverage-wise and we couldn’t get the protection we did last time,” Northern head coach Brett Moore said. “We had some opportunities. We had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns and had some fourth-down plays that we didn’t convert them. They played really, really good defense. I thought we had some things going at certain times, but we couldn’t get anything sustained. But nobody has been able to against these guys.”

Thomas finished 12 of 21 passing for 137 yards and ran for 101 yards on seven carries, and Prokes ran for 110 yards on 17 carries for Western. 

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