The Salina Central Mustangs played host to the winless Goddard Lions on Friday night in search of their fourth-straight victory. The Mustangs would cruise to second-consecutive home win by a score of 34-6.

Early on, the two teams would trade field position, but Goddard would suffer a bad snap recovered by the Mustangs in plus territory. The turnover would allow Central a short field, and six plays later, Micah Moore would punch the ball in from six yards out.

The second quarter would once again be dictated by the two defenses, but with 1:11 left in the first half, Central would strike again. Quarterback Parker Kavanagh would find David Brown in the  end zone for a 22-yard score, stretching the Mustangs’ lead to 12-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Goddard would attempt a reverse on the return, but Hayden Vidrickson would plant a solid hit on the ball carrier, knocking the ball loose and allowing Salina Central to recover deep in Lion territory. Three plays later, Parker Kavanagh would punch the ball in from two yards out to once again stretch out the Mustang lead. The two-point conversion was successful, and in the blink of an eye, the Mustangs would have a 20-0 advantage at the half.

In the second half, Salina Central would continue an impressive defensive outing, forcing three-and-outs on five of Goddard’s first six possessions in the half, with the one non-three-and-out being a turnover on downs after a failed 4th down conversion. That’s right, no first downs allowed on the first six drives of the second half by the Mustang defense.

Couple the stout defensive effort with a nine yard Kenyon McMillon touchdown run and Salina Central would lead 27-0 at the end of three quarters.

Salina Central would tack on its final score of the game with 7:21 to play in the game on a 12 yard touchdown pass from Parker Kavanagh to Logan Losey in the back corner of the end zone.

Goddard’s lone score would come with just one second left in the game, as backup quarterback Coltin Watkins would connect on a nine yard score with receiver Bo Bantz. The extra point was no good, and the Mustangs would emerge victorious with a convincing 34-6 win.

Salina Central improves to 5-2 on the season, winning their fourth-straight game heading into the regular season finale next week against cross-town rivals Salina South.

SCORE BY QUARTER:

GODDARD (0-7) – 0 / 0 / 0 / 6 – 6

S. CENTRAL (5-2) – 6 / 14 / 7 / 7 – 34