Fenstermaker, Bradford stand out for Inland Lakes football in home win over Central Lake

INDIAN RIVER – It was finally home sweet home for the Inland Lakes Bulldogs, who pleased their supporters at Shanley Field with a 44-30 victory over Central Lake in a Ski Valley 8-Player football matchup on Friday.

The undefeated Bulldogs (3-0, 2-0 Ski Valley) saw contributors from all over the field as they overwhelmed the Trojans (1-2, 0-2) for much of the contest.

With Inland Lakes staying unblemished on the campaign, here’s some takeaways from the Bulldogs' triumph over the Trojans.

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Fenstermaker, I-L offense on a roll

After a sensational offensive display in a win over Lake Linden-Hubbell last week, Inland Lakes junior quarterback Aidan Fenstermaker kept things rolling with another huge performance.

In the first half, Fenstermaker threw for two touchdowns, one of which was a 52-yard toss to senior receiver Jake Willey, while also scoring another on a run. Fenstermaker added one more TD toss in the second half to finish off a solid evening. Fenstermaker was 7-of-8 passing for 133 yards.

“I worked really hard on my passing (in the summer), and it paid off,” said Fenstermaker. “Really, we were just pounding the ball, pounding it, beating them up in the middle, and those surprise passes from the outside really caught them off-guard.”

Rushing-wise, senior Payton Teuthorn put the Bulldogs up 38-16 in the second half with a 44-yard score.

Two games in, the Bulldogs look as strong on offense as they ever have under head coach Travis Meyer.  

“Our offense did a really good job at the line of scrimmage, especially,” said Meyer. “We kept them honest and made them work hard inside, and we were able to take advantage of stuff on the edge and over the top, and we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores get a lot of playing time in the second half. They weren’t as successful as the starters, but they still played competitive football, so that was good.”

Mitch Crawford also scored for the Bulldogs. Grant Blumke had 81 yards rushing and Teuthorn rushed for 68 yards.

Bradford becoming a real weapon

It didn’t matter if it was running or catching the ball, Andre Bradford was a difference maker for the Bulldogs on Friday.

Just a sophomore, Bradford showed many that he could be another one of those big-time weapons for the Bulldogs by catching two TD passes from Fenstermaker – including a 38-yard score to put the Bulldogs up 44-16 in the third – and leading the way with a dynamic display. Bradford recorded 51 yards receiving and 36 yards rushing.

“Andre is a quiet, very collected sophomore that nobody really pays attention to because he’s got some workhorses in front of him, but he does a really great job,” Meyer said.

Things to clean up defensively

As potent as the I-L offense was, the Bulldogs did struggle on defense at times in the second half.

After only allowing just eight points in the opening half, the Bulldogs had trouble stopping the run of the Trojans, who converted plays to keep drives alive over the final two quarters. One of the problems the Bulldogs had was slowing down Garrison Barrett, who scored twice in the second half.

“We definitely have to clean up our tackling in pursuit,” Meyer said. “In our guys’ defense, we didn’t get to tackle outside because of heat on Tuesday, we didn’t get to practice outside on Wednesday because of lightning, and (Thursday) was our pregame so we never really go live, so it’s been a week-and-a-half since we’ve actually hit anyone with all of our pads on, so they acted like it for sure.”

With a road trip to St. Ignace (3-0) on deck, the Bulldogs know they’ll have to be more consistent defensively if they want to remain unbeaten. Inland Lakes faces St. Ignace in 7 p.m. clash on Friday, Sept. 15.

Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes football takes down Central Lake in home opener