SPALDING — The Powers North Central junior Riley Cretens scored four touchdowns here Friday night, helping the Jets earn a 50-30 football triumph over Crystal Falls Forest Park.

Cretens scored the last two TDs in this regular-season finale, one on a 53-yard pass from junior Nathan Pipkorn for a 44-30 advantage with 5:45 left in the contest, the other on a three-run around right end with 1:50 remaining in this Great Lakes Eight Conference, West Division Conference.

The Jets (7-2) will likely travel to Lake Linden-Hubbell (7-2) for their Division 2 regional opener Saturday.

North Central finished 4-1 in its division. The Trojans ended 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the league.

“It’s Crystal Falls (Forest Park) football,” Jets’ coach Leo Gorzinski said. “They have the best line we’ve seen all season, although Gogebic was also pretty good. It was a tough, hard fought football game.”

The Trojans showed they had no intention of rolling over, needing only five plays to cover 65 yards in their opening drive.

Senior running back Trent Kannich, who carried on all five plays, ended that drive on a 35-yard dash along the right sideline and added the conversion run for an 8-0 lead just 2:37 into the contest.

The Jets answered quickly, shaving their deficit to 8-6 on junior Kaden Malone’s 58-yard aerial to senior Brody Mercier at 8:01.

Forest Park struck again at 5:33, with senior James Smith breaking off right tackle for a 49-yard TD run and a 16-6 cushion.

North Central responded again, cutting its deficit to 16-12 on senior Ben Stage’s 54-yard bomb to Cretens at 4:42.

Forest Park regained the lead 63 seconds later when Kannich bulled his way up the middle for a two-yard TD run.

With 22 seconds remaining before halftime, the Jets converted in a fourth-and-23 situation on a 23-yard aerial from Stage to junior Kaden Malone.

“It could have been a big momentum swing had we not scored that touchdown,” Gorzinski said. “We knew we were in a dogfight.”

The Jets gave themselves a little more breathing room with 4:39 left in the third stanza when Malone added a score on a three-yard run around right end.

“Going up by two scores gave us all the confidence,” Cretens said. “We have good defensive backs who usually stop the passes. Although, they kept fighting. Forest Park is a big rivalry. This is a big win for us.”

Forest Park didn’t just go away, however, as Kannich scored on a three-yard run though the right side and added the conversion run to make it 36-30 early in the fourth frame.

“I’m 100 percent happy with the effort,” Forest Park coach Brian Fabbri said. “That was fun to see and fun to coach. I feel we have something to build on. The guys left it all on the field. We absolutely played our best football toward the end of the season.”

The Jets finished with 371 yards in total offense, including 227 through the air. Cretens had three TD receptions for 137.

“You got to keep them behind the chains,” Gorzinski said. “We didn’t do that a whole lot. The kids are beginning to trust each other. We’re happy and blessed to make the playoffs. We want to make the most of it.”

Stage led North Central’s ground game with 85 yards on seven carries.

Kannich tugged the leather 37 times for 191 yards. The Trojans finished with 233 in their traditional power ground game and junior quarterback Devin Koga was 3-of-6 passing for 65.