LA CROSSE — The Central High School football team scored once in the second quarter to take the lead and twice in the third to extend it on the way to a 38-20 WIAA Division 2 first-round playoff win over Menasha on Friday.
The fourth-seeded RiverHawks (7-3) bounced back from a loss to Onalaska last week and used a big night from senior quarterback Christian Rudrud to knock the Bluejays (6-4) out of the playoffs in a game played at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
Rudrud carried 29 times and rushed for 235 yards. He rushed for four touchdowns and threw a scoring pass to junior Gabe Servais as Central moved into the second round for the second time in three seasons.
Menasha had a 14-8 lead after one quarter — Rudrud tossed his 5-yard touchdown pass to Servais in the first — before Rudrud took over on carries out of the backfield.
He had a 68-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and scored on runs of 12 yards and 1 yard in the third as the RiverHawks took a 30-20 lead to the fourth quarter. He added a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to produce the final margin and help Central rush for 368 yards in the game.
Rudrud has rushed for 1,694 yards and 25 touchdowns after this performance.
Senior Connor Groth had six catches for 83 yards for Central, which plays its second-round game at top-seeded River Falls (9-1) on Oct. 31.
