IMLAY CITY — Imlay City saw to it that their string of success would continue, handing visiting Yale a 28-13 setback in a Blue Water Area Conference varsity football game last Friday night.
With the decision, Imlay City improves to 3-1 versus BWAC counterparts and overall. Yale slips to 0-4 this season and against league rivals.
“We got the win, but we have to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Imlay City Coach Brian Tresnak commented. “We had way too many turnovers and costly penalties tonight,” he noted.
“If we want to compete with the top teams in the league, we have to stop beating ourselves.”
In Friday’s game, Imlay City took a 7-0 edge after one quarter was over with.
Quarter two saw Imlay City amass 14 points and Yale generate seven, staking themselves to a 21-7 advantage.
When the action resumed, Yale struck with a 6-0 third quarter edge. That trimmed their deficit to 21-13.
The fourth quarter would see Imlay City outscore Yale 7-0, finishing off a 28-13 win.
Imlay City produced their 28-point total aided by a Jack Kaplan 41-yard touchdown run (followed by a successful extra point kick courtesy of Wyatt Luther); a Cristian Rojas 10-yard touchdown run (followed by an accurate extra point boot by Luther); a Kaplan to Dakota Sandzik 24-yard touchdown pass (followed by a successful extra point kick courtesy of Luther); and a Kaplan one-yard touchdown run (followed by an accurate extra point boot by Luther).
For the night, Kaplan completed four of seven passes for 53 yards as Imlay City’s quarterback. He threw zero interceptions en route to those numbers.
His successful tosses went to two different targets. Sandzik (two receptions for 34 yards) and Chris Cezik (two catches for 19 yards)
Luther was the other
Imlay City’s Lance Wolford follows his blocker during Friday’s BWAC game versus Yale.
Imlay City player who opted to air out the football. His lone attempt, on a fake punt, went for a 29-yard gain to Sandzik.
The Imlay City ground attack wound up with 225 yards on 39 totes.
Kaplan (103 yards on seven carries), Cristian Rojas (12 rushes for 51 yards) and Lance Wolford (48 yards on 12 carries) put up Imlay City’s best numbers. The remaining eight Spartan rushes netted a combined 23-yard gain.
Luther (two solos and 13 assists), Julian Rojas (13 assists) and Wolford (one solo and 11 assists) furnished Imlay City’s highest tackle outputs. Cezik (one solo, seven assists and a blocked field goal), Brady Vanderploeg (one solo and seven assists), Dillan Landerschier (seven assists), Sandzik (two solos and four assists) and Cristian Rojas (six assists) supported their performances.
The Imlay City defense also registered two takeaways. Anthony D’Ambrosio and Sandzik (an interception each) notched those.
Imlay City returns to action this Friday when it will entertain Blue Water Area Conference rival North Branch. That matchup lists a 7 p.m. starting time.
Kevin Kissane has been covering high school sports for the Tri-City Times since 1985. When not standing on a field or court with his camera and notepad, he enjoys golf, travel and family. Kevin is a 1980 graduate of Capac High School, and is also a grad of St. Clair Community College and earned a degree in journalism from Central Michigan University.
