By Araya Gomez
For their last regular season match-up, the Silver Lake football team competed against Harvard for senior night in Bladen. From the gates, the game went in the Mustang’s favor. Silver Lake tallied 23 points while holding the Cardinals scoreless in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Cardinals found the endzone for their first score of the game; however, the Mustangs added another 26 points, leaving the score at halftime 49-6. The Mustangs kept to the ground offensively for most of the game. Senior Lane Conway totaled two rushing touchdowns on five carries and 92 rushing yards. Junior Jaxon tenBensel earned a rushing touchdown as well; he had three carries for 37 yards. Although the Mustangs didn’t use many passing options, they did find success with some long passes in the first half. Junior Beau Bonifas found Conway for a 42-yard pass and touchdown. Conway also passed the ball to tenBensel in the endzone for a 46-yard reception. Conway ended the half with 180 total yards. Sophomore Lanham Skrdlant returned a 77-yard kick return for a touchdown as well. The Mustang’s defense managed to hold the Cardinals to just six points in large part to senior Paxton Sorensen who earned 7 tackles and an interception, leading to a pick-six; sophomore Lane Magarin and freshman Laikyn Krueger added 6 tackles piece for the evening. Junior Landon Duester added 2 points defensively with a safety. During halftime, 45 pre-kindergarten through 6th graders danced to “The Monster Mash” led by the high school dance team. Following half, the Mustangs had the opportunity to give many team members many minutes. Sophomore Xander Journey earned a pick-six and freshman Tanner Vance took over the quarterback position, completing a five-yard pass to senior Connor Donnelly. In the second half, the Mustangs added another 14 points to Harvard’s 20, for the final score of 63-26. Silver Lake ended their regular season with a record of 6-2 and a spot in the playoffs.