Portage Central rolls past Battle Creek Central 61-19 to stay unbeaten in league play

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Battle Creek Central has scored at least 28 points in five of its six games. On Friday, Oct. 9, it faced a Portage Central defense that had allowed 78 points all season.

The Bearcats (3-3) hosted the Mustangs (5-1) in a league game. Portage Central arrives on a five-game winning streak and leads its league at 4-0, according to MaxPreps.

Battle Creek Central has scored 244 points in six games, about 41 a game, but has allowed 266, or more than 44 a game. It won its first two, beating Forest Hills Central 54-49 and Everett 31-26, then lost three straight league games, including a 77-76 shootout at Mattawan. It ended the skid last week with a 36-23 win at Kalamazoo Central.

Portage Central’s only loss came in the opener, 24-14 at Central Catholic. Since then the Mustangs have beaten Forest Hills Central 42-21, Portage Northern 25-14, Kalamazoo Central 42-12, Loy Norrix 43-0 and Lakeview 56-7. They are allowing 13 points a game.

The two teams share two opponents, and the margins point to the challenge for the home team. Portage Central beat Forest Hills Central by 21 and Kalamazoo Central by 30. Battle Creek Central beat them by five and 13.

Neither team gets a break afterward. Battle Creek Central, still looking for its first league win, hosts Gull Lake on Oct. 16 and closes the regular season at crosstown rival Lakeview on Oct. 23. Portage Central hosts Mattawan in a league game Oct. 16, then plays at St. Joseph on Oct. 23.

Updated Oct. 12, 2026: Portage Central won 61-19, MaxPreps results show. The Mustangs are 6-1 and 5-0 in the league; Battle Creek Central is 3-4 and 0-4. This story also now calls the game a league contest, as both teams’ MaxPreps schedules list it; an earlier version said nonconference.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The headline and summary were changed to report the result of the game this story previewed.

Sources:
MaxPreps, Battle Creek Central varsity football 2026 schedule and results, https://www.maxpreps.com/mi/battle-creek/central-bearcats/football/schedule/
MaxPreps, Portage Central varsity football 2026 schedule and results, https://www.maxpreps.com/mi/portage/portage-central-mustangs/football/schedule/
Photo: Gpwitteveen, “Battle Creek Central High School,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_Creek_Central_High_School.jpg

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Tags: Battle Creek · Sports · Portage Central