The East Central Trojans scored first and were able to answer every

challenge with a score of their own as the Trojans dispatched the

Pirates 44-20 Friday night.

East Central started the game with a bang by picking up first downs

on three consecutive plays, before the drive appeared to stall. On

third-and-11 quarterback Jake Meiners connected with Zach Bley in

the right corner of the end zone for the touchdown. Garrett Rauch

added the point after and the Trojans led 7-0 2:24 minutes into the

game.

That margin lasted less than 1:30 minutes as Mitch Tuttle faked the

hand-off, skirted left end and sailed down the middle of the field for a

69-yard touchdown on the Pirates’ first possession. Chris

Blankman’s point after failed.

They stopped the Trojans on the next series of downs, but lost

fumbles on back-to-back series to set the Trojans up for a seven-yard