19 October 2023
The Central Minutemen marched into enemy territory and took down their conference rival Highland Park Scots 34-24 Wednesday night.
The Minutemen dominated for most of the game, shutting out the Scots until the final quarter. Highland Park had an offensive surge late in the game, scoring three times in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t quite enough.
The run game proved lethal for Central, as it rushed for over 200 yards. Junior quarterback Allan Lankfard was a dual threat, rushing for over 100 yards and two touchdowns, as well as throwing for over 130 yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Lavonte Cox also had himself a night with over 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The defense stood strong for the Minutemen as well, forcing two turnovers in the first half, an interception and a fumble recovery. Both turnovers occurred during substantial drives for Highland Park, destroying any momentum they had.
Highland Park junior quarterback Jonah Sadowski led the way for the Scots with over 100 yards both through the air and on the ground, and scoring a rushing touchdown.
Central coach Scott Howell said playing and defeating a conference opponent is always a big deal, and something the team takes seriously.
“It’s a rival,” Howell said. “We come in, and we know in this game it’s 0-0. Neither one of us has a victory. We know it’s a rival. We know everyone is going to come and play hard. It’s for bragging rights, it’s for the musket, it’s for everything. I was proud of how our guys played today.”
With the playoffs around the corner for both teams, both coaches had something to say about how Wednesday’s game impacts their teams as they move forward.
“Moving into the playoffs, this is what we wanted to do,” Howell said. “Now, we’ve put ourselves in a good position to get a decent seed at the meeting tomorrow, and then try and get back to where we were last year, and that’s the section finals.”
Highland Park coach Dave Zeitchick said the loss had to be seen as a learning point as the team moves towards the playoffs.
“Well, we start over, and we have to build on tonight,” Zeitchick said. “Not a lot to build on, but there were some good things that we did. And, you know, the only sad day is the last day.”