PIERRE – A solid first quarter for Aberdeen Central gave way to big-play opportunities for Pierre in the second quarter as the top-rated Governors cruised to a 42-14 Eastern South Dakota Conference football victory Friday night.

The two squads parried and traded blows in the opening stanza and headed into the second quarter tied 7-7.

“Our offense got out there and took control of the line of scrimmage that first quarter,” said Central coach Justin Briese.” We made some good plays.”

But that’s when things got away from the Golden Eagles. Pierre scored 35 unanswered points in that second stanza, including three touchdowns by junior running back Porter Hunsley. The Governors used big-play opportunities and converted on them and before the half was over, the Governors were firmly in control at 42-7.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” Briese acknowledged. “You try to take one away and another is there. … There’s guys that can make plays and their offensive line does a good job of making lanes for them.”

Central did get one score back in the fourth quarter on a Jackson Dargatz scamper and held Pierre out of the endzone for the duration of the second half during running-clock time.

The Golden Eagles did manage 195 yards of total offense, 114 of which came on the ground. Dargatz had just over a third of that total on his own with three fourth-quarter carries.

Central will host Mitchell next week for another ESD contest.