The Salina Central Mustangs were in need of a bounce back performance on Friday night. Coming off a tough AVCTL loss to Goddard-Eisenhower, Central needed to get back on its feet. It did exactly that.

Friday night at Welch Stadium, the Mustangs clobbered Emporia to the tune of a 46-13 win, getting them back in the win column at 2-1 on the year.

A big part of the victory came from Junior Quarterback Jack Gordon. Last week, Gordon threw for over 300 yards and a trio of touchdowns. This week, he did that again, and then some. The gunslinger connected for six touchdowns through the air, to four different Central receivers, and he totaled approximately 300 yards as well (official numbers are still being tabulated at the moment).

His leading target against the Spartans was Senior Wideout Ryker Grossner, who hauled in seven passes for over 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Senior Hunter Mowery would catch just four passes on the game, but two of those went for scores as well.

Senior Running Back Elijah Wilson did his fair share of work as well, tallying his third-straight 100-yard rushing game on just 11 carries and a score.

The Mustang defense deserves its flowers as well, holding Emporia to just 13 points, a season low in points allowed for Central, as well as forcing two turnovers, one by fumble the other by INT. A much needed outing for a defense still learning and growing early in the year.

The convincing victory will send Salina Central back into AVCTL-II play next week, as they’ll head back on the road to face a struggling, and 0-3 Andover bunch, which the Mustangs beat twice a season ago. That game will kick off at 7 pm Friday night, with coverage available on 1150 KSAL and 106.7 FM.

H & R Block of the Game: Sam Payne

Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game: Jack Gordon

LINE SCORE

Salina Central – 19 – 20 – 0 – 7 / 46

Emporia – 0 – 6 – 0 – 7 / 13