WATERTOWN – Aberdeen Central bent plenty, but found a way not to break Friday night, as the fifth-rated Golden Eagles spoiled the Arrows’ homecoming celebration with a 17-0 shutout at the Watertown Stadium.

“The defense played well,” said Central coach Justin Briese. “They gave up a couple big plays, but their running back (Juven Hudson) is really good, so it’s to be expected that he makes some plays. But we didn’t give up any points. It’s hard to lose when you don’t give up any points.”

Central gave up plenty of offensive yardage to the host squad behind Hudson’s efforts, but countered with a dominant advantage in time of possession, particularly in the second half. Up 10-0 at the half, Central allowed Watertown just one possession in the entire third quarter. 

“That game was really fast,” Briese said. “It didn’t seem like we ran that many plays, but it sure did seem to fly by.”

Karson Carda then capped a 16-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to ice the game.

Watertown, for its part, was able to move the ball when it had it, but had two touchdowns negated by holding penalties, one in each half.

Drew Salfrank had Central’s first touchdown, a 35-yard catch in the second quarter. Tayden Brownson put the Golden Eagles on the board in the first quarter with a field goal.

“We kept control of the ball,” Briese said. “We didn’t score a ton, but we controlled the game.”

Central improves to 3-3 overall with its third straight win. Watertown is now 1-4.

The Golden Eagles will host Brookings next Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Golden Eagles Field.

“The boys are playing well right now,” Briese said. “Things are really coming together. … We’re on a bit of a roll here.”