Justin St. Ours | Daily Press North Central’s Wyatt Raab (28) stumbles into the endzone for a touchdown after avoiding a tackle as Stephenson’s Devon Groleau (29) looks on Friday in Powers.

POWERS — North Central football teams have been noted for their offense in recent years.

It was the Jets’ defense that really shined here Friday night, however, in a season-opening 46-0 eight-player triumph over the Stephenson Eagles.

The defending Division 2 state champs held the Eagles to minus-7 yards in total offense in this Great Lakes Eight West Conference match-up.

“It comes down to team speed,” said Jets’ coach Leo Gorzinski. “We can’t take credit for that. The guys put tremendous effort into their off-season training. They have a target on their back, and they’ve accepted that challenge. They just fly to the ball.”

Junior quarterback Luke Gorzinski ran for two touchdowns and threw for another on this damp night in northern Menominee County.

His 69-yard dash on a keeper near the left sideline gave the Jets a 16-0 lead with two minutes, 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

He added a nine-yard TD run off right tackle for a 22-0 cushion with 4:37 remaining in the second stanza and tossed a 33-yard TD aerial to senior Carter Tietz in the right corner of the end zone for a 30-0 cushion at 1:59.

Luke Gorzinski then caught a 32-yard pass from junior Brent Labonte for a 38-0 advantage 44 seconds before halftime.

“We knew about their speed and expected this to be a tough game,” said Stephenson coach Logan Carlson. “Our boys played super hard, but they’re defending state champions for a reason. They’re super talented, and Luke is a very impressive player. Once they work out the kinks, they’ll be even better. When it was 22-0, we weren’t really out of it, but then they got those two quick touchdowns, and the kids’ heads went down a little.”

Senior Wyatt Raab concluded the scoring on a one-yard run up the middle midway through the fourth stanza.

After losing a fumble on their first possession, the Jets found the end zone the next time on Raab’s 17-yard run near the right sideline.

“Even with all the preparation, I thought we came out flat,” said coach Gorzinski. “Although credit goes to Stephenson. Hats off to them. They came ready to play and made the stop. I think Stephenson is going to have a solid team this year. They stopped us twice, which doesn’t happen very often. That was an eye-opener for us. Our guys have some things to work on, but we can coach them up.”

The Eagles, aided by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, started their opening drive at their 48-yard line.

Senior Canaan Elson’s nine-yard set them up with a second-and-one situation. The Eagles, however, were unable to move the sticks, setting up the Jets with another scoring chance.

“We had two sophomores starting against the state champs, and they did their best,” said Carlson. “We knew about their speed. The last two years, they scored on the opening play against us. We built some confidence after forcing the fumble on their first possession.”

The Jets, focusing mainly on their ground game, finished with 410 yards in total offense. They ran for 298 and passed for 112.

Luke Gorzinski ran 13 times for 168 and completed 5-of-7 aerials for 80.

“We wanted to play physical and be able to grind it out,” said coach Gorzinski. “We wanted to play power football. We don’t want Luke to have to do everything. We’re a different team from last year.”

North Central visits Norway Friday. Stephenson hosts North Dickinson Thursday.