IMLAY CITY — Imlay City absorbed a 47-0 loss to visiting North Branch in a Blue Water Area Conference varsity football matchup last Friday night.
Ray Liu, of Imlay City, returns a kick in Friday’s game versus North Branch. Photo by Rod Soule
With the outcome, North Branch moves to 5-0 overall and against BWAC rivals. Imlay City slips to 3-2 versus league foes and for the season.
“It was a tough loss tonight,” Imlay City Coach Brian Tresnak commented. “We are going to refocus and this week and focus on finishing the regular season strong,” he noted.
In Friday’s homecoming matchup, North Branch bolted out to a 14-0 advantage after one quarter was done and widened the gap to 41-0 at halftime.
When the action resumed, North Branch padded its cushion some. Thanks to a 6-0 third quarter edge, the Broncos went up 47-0 with 36 minutes gone.
That was followed by a scoreless fourth quarter.
For the night, Jack Kaplan completed three of nine pass plays for 28 yards as Imlay City’s quarterback. He threw zero interceptions along the way.
Dakota Sandzik (two catches for 22 yards) and Chris Cezik (one reception for six yards) hauled in his accurate tosses.
The Imlay City ground attack generated 90 yards on 27 totes.
Sandzik (five rushes for 21 yards), Julian Rojas (18 yards on four totes) and Ray Liu (two rushes for 15 yards) led Imlay City’s rushing attack. The remaining 16 Spartan totes netted a combined 36-yard gain.
Lance Wolford (one solo and 14 assists), Julian Rojas (one solo and 10 assists) and Dillan Landerschier (one solo and nine assists) paced Imlay City’s defense. They were backed by Brady Vanderploeg (nine assists), Kaplan (one solo and seven assists), Latham Perry (eight assists), Xander Nolin and George Antos (one solo and six assists each) plus Andrew Alden and Sandzik (five assists apiece).
Imlay City will look to bounce back this Friday when it entertains BWAC rival Almont. The contest, the regular season finale for both combatants, is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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.
