MANKATO — Rochester Century found Mankato West to be as good as advertised in a one-sided Big Nine Conference football game on a stormy Friday night at Mankato West.
West scored four touchdowns in the first quarter and rolled to a 49-8 win over Century in a game that was ended six minutes early due to lightning strikes in the vicinity.
Mankato West, which celebrated its homecoming, improved to 5-1 in the conference with its third straight win, and Century is now 2-4.
Vik was duly impressed with Mankato West junior quarterback Ryan Schlichte who passed for three touchdowns in the first half and staked the Scarlets to a 42-6 lead by the intermission. Century added a safety in the second half.
"Their quarterback was very good again," Vik said. "It's like the JM coach (Jack Drews) had said after their game with West; they've got great speed at several different positions and that was very apparent tonight."
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Some of that Scarlets speed was supplied by junior running back Cory Johnson who broke loose for a 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for West's second score.
Century got on the board in the second quarter on a 75-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Joey Ferraro to junior wide-out Darryl Martin, for Martin's team-leading fourth touchdown this season. But the Panthers trailed 42-6 at halftime.
The long pass from Ferraro to Martin accounted for the lion's share of Century's 130 yards in total offense. Junior running back Nick Ferraro rushed 10 times for 29 yards, sophomore Aaron Ajke had 18 yards on three carries, and Donyae Funches had 17 on four.
Century plays next week at John Marshall.
Mankato West 49, Century 8
Century #06#2#0#—#8
Mankato West #35#7#7#0#—#49
