Aberdeen Central couldn’t make the most of its chances on homecoming night, falling 31-7 to a visiting Mitchell squad Friday night at Brownell Activities Complex.

The final tally belied what was, at least in the early portions of the contest, a tightly contested Eastern South Dakota Conference football affair. Central’s defense gave Mitchell fits through the first and second quarters, forcing a myriad of third-and-long situations.

“I think we did a good job,” said Central senior Owen Ward, one of the leading presences in that defensive effort. “We got put in a lot of tough positions and a lot of them we buckled down. … We got really gritty and we held our own.”

But the offense couldn’t quite reciprocate. Central had the ball inside the Mitchell 5-yard line twice in the second quarter and both times the Golden Eagles came away with no points to show for it.

“Just where we had chances to make something happen and it kind of got away from us,” said Central coach Justin Briese, “whether it’s because of a penalty or guys losing focus. We just didn’t get it done tonight.”

Central also muffed a pair of punts in the game, including one to begin the second half. Mitchell took advantage both times, punching in for a 7-yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter, and knocking down a 23-yard field goal in the third that made it a 16-7 game.

Central quarterback Jace Byrum was injured on the very next drive and Mitchell put the game away with a pair of scores in the fourth quarter that turned a two-possession game into a 24-point differential.

Briese said Byrum’s loss was unfortunate, especially since he was a big part of Central’s ground attack.

“He had been playing well and having a pretty good game up to the point where he got hurt,” Briese said.

Carter Lust scored Central’s lone touchdown of the game on a 22-yard pass from Byrum with less than a minute to play in the second quarter. That score answered – almost immediately – a Mitchell scoring drive that featured a pair of 30+ yard runs by Samari Wright. The Golden Eagles responded with a 4-play, 70-yard drive that lasted just 50 seconds.

Both Briese and Ward noted that the Golden Eagles will look to put Friday’s contest behind them by practice time on Monday.

“We go to practice on Monday and we get better,” Ward said. “It’s just a matter of building up over time and improving every day.”

Central heads to Huron next Friday for another ESD game. That game is set for a 4:30 p.m. start because Huron does not have the use of lights this fall.

Mitchell (3-1) 6 7 3 15 – 31

Aberdeen Central (0-4) 0 7 0 0 – 7

Scoring Plays

First Quarter

MIT – Lawson LeBrun 7 run (kick failed), 0:00.

Second Quarter

MIT – Samari Wright 31 run (Gavin Zilla kick), 1:37.

AC – Carter Lust 22 pass from Jace Byrum, 0:42.

Third Quarter 

MIT – Zilla 23 FG, 6:42.

Fourth Quarter

MIT – Mason Kempf 22 run (Zilla kick), 11:20.

MIT – Bailor Kristensen 2 run (Ethan Hegg pass from Brady Hoesing), 7:07.