WATERTOWN – Aberdeen Central landed an early jab, but Watertown had the knockout blow.

After responding to the Arrows’ opening-drive touchdown with a touchdown-scoring drive of their own, the Golden Eagles managed very little offense the rest of the way, as Watertown cruised to a 41-14 victory Thursday night in the final regular-season game ever played at Watertown Stadium.

The Arrows opened the game with a quick score, only to watch the Golden Eagles strike back on their opening drive. On fourth-and-4 from the Watertown 9-yard line, Brayden Bowman found Colby Dauwen on a slant route for the game-tying touchdown. Central’s drive was aided by a big reception by Joey Dallman on third-and-5 and a pass interference call on the Arrows, but the result was the same – a 7-all tie.

“They came out and scored on a big play,” said Central coach Justin Briese. “Our offense gets on the field and we get a good drive going and punch it in to score. After that, things didn’t look so pretty.”

Central went 3-and-out on its next possession, then threw three straight interceptions – including a pick-6 – to end the first half. Watertown turned each of those miscues into touchdowns, and went into the half leading 35-7.

“That’s a big hole to try and come out of once you’re in that situation,” Briese admitted.

Each team managed one more score in the fourth quarter with Dauwen finding the endzone for a second time for the Golden Eagles. Dauwen capped a long Central drive with a 1-yard plunge into the endzone late.

The loss ends the regular season for Central at 3-6 overall. The Golden Eagles staked all three of their victories in the middle of the season, ending on a three-game skid to highly-ranked programs.

“We’ll take a look at the tape,” Briese said. “Take a look at some things we did well and try and build off that.”

Central will travel to Yankton for a first round matchup with the Bucks on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Class 11AA playoffs.