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11/23/12 Results at Ford Field

25 Nov

Harbor Beach 35 vs. Beal City 10: Quarterback Eli Kraft had a big day for the Pirates going 8-13 for 168 yards and two touchdowns while adding one on the ground.  Travis Essenmacher had two receptions for 86 yards for Harbor Beach.  Ty Rollin lead the Aggies of Beal City with 76 rushing yards on the ground.  Sam Schafer was 10-28 for 168 yards and two interceptions for Beal City.

Brother Rice 35 vs. Muskegon 28: Brother Rice came into this game looking for two things, an eighth championship for Coach Fracassa and back to back titles in 2011 and 2012.  On the other side, the Big Reds of Muskegon wanted to win their first state title since the great Tony Annese was on the sideline.  Brother Rice stuck first in this game.  Going 80 yards while dominating the line of scrimmage.  Shon Powell got things going for Rice with a 54 yard spurt to the Big Red 19.  Three plays later Cheyne Lacanaria would find Cory Lacanaria for a 16 yard td.  On Rice’s next drive, the Warriors would mix in the run and the pass  this time Alex Malzone would find Joshua Flye in the end-zone for a nine yard pitch-and-catch.  Showing no signs of nerves, the Big Reds would use their tricky veer offense to get them down Brother Rice 4.  Javontae Langston would power in from four yards out to trail only by 7.  A major turning point in the game was when Muskegon senior qb Jalen Smith was injured and left the game.  He is a good decision in the Big Reds offense, especially on the option.  Both defenses would stiffen until the third when Muskegon tied the game on a Deshaun Thrower one yard run.  Both teams seemed to have saved their best offense for the last quarter.  Brother Rice scored first in the fourth on the ground with Shon Powell, after Muskegon fumbled inside their own twenty.  But five minutes later, Muskegon would once again tie the game up with slot-back Marcus Smith going in from 11 yards.  53 seconds later, Corey Lacanaria would haul in a 77 yard td reception to make it 28-21 Rice.  About a minute later, Thrower would find Keondre Craig streaking down the field for a 51 yard td reception, to tie the game at 28.  Now this is where the game changed.  Muskegon had all the momentum with about three minutes left in the game.  Thinking the game would go to OT, Muskegon kicked the ball of Brother Rice just like any normal kickoff.  But instead of running the ball himself, the Warrior player lateraled the ball to Jason Alessi for a 96 yard kick return.  Muskegon would get one final chance with about 50 seconds left.  But Thrower’s pass intended for E’monte Briggs fell incomplete giving Rice the division two championship.  Rice only ran 42 plays compared the Muskegon’s 76.  Shon Powell led the Rice ground game with 97 yards rushing.  Jalen  Smith led Muskegon with 138.  On defense, Jason Alessi had 12 total tackles for Rice while Deshaun Thrower, D’vonte Dockery and William Hunt lead Muskegon with 5.

Ithaca 37 vs. Constantine 27:  Coming into this game, Ithaca assumed that Mr. Everything Travis Smith would be starting under center for the Yellowjackets, but this is football, never assume anything.  As it turned out, Smith would get injured on the first drive of the game, forcing jr. Logan Hessbrook, who started at quarterback on the j.v. team last year, to come in and play qb.  Hessbrook was marvelous in the game for Ithaca.  Passing for 104 yards and two td and rushing for a team high 113 yards.  Ben Mallo led Constantine with 207 and 1 td on the ground.  This is the 3rd straight state championship for Ithaca.

Detroit Country Day 7 vs. Grand Rapids South Christian 40:  Country Day had scored a total of 85 points in their last two playoff games before the D-4 championship game.  A large part of the Yellowjackets’ struggles were in large part due to the South Christian run defense.  The Sailors’ only gave up a total of 57 rushing net yards.  With this performance in the run department for DCD, South Christian was able to concentrate on the highly touted quarterback Tyler Wiegers.  Wiegers was unable to get into a consistent rhythm going 18-34 for 216 yards, with one td, and one int.  The backfield combination of Chad Sterk and Derek Woltjer accumulated 236 rushing yards while Woltjer threw for 2 touchdowns in the air.  Maurice Ways led the Yellowjackets in receiving with three receptions for 89 yards.

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Brother Rice repeat?

22 Nov

Repeating as a state champion in football is one of the most hardest things to do in high school football.  Think about it, after winning a state championship, all the teams that you beat the previous year are all gunning to beat you.  This Friday, Brother Rice will have a chance to repeat but this time their opponent will be the always tough Big Reds from Muskegon.  A team coming in with only one lost and has man-handled some teams on their route to Ford Field.  If Brother Rice is to win, they will need production out of their two running backs Shon Powell and Brian Walker.  Muskegon knows that these two are going to get the ball, to counter attack that, Rice must be able to at least make Muskegon respect their passing game.  Rice does have some good receivers to get the ball out to.  Most notably Corey Lacanaria and the speedy Josh Flye.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Muskegon, their offense presents major problems to defenses and maybe even the very aggressive Warrior D.  The Big Reds use a formation they call the “Ski Gun,” which consists of a quarterback in the pistol with a running back in a three-point stance behind him.   Similar to triple option teams, they send a man in motion and will either give the ball to the running back on a dive or the quarterback will keep it on an option.  This type of offense will create match up problems for the Rice Defense making their linebackers have to hesitate of option plays which could result in a big play for the talented athletes the Big Reds have.

I just don’t see Brother Rice winning it this year.  I would love to see Coach Fracassa get one more state title, but this Warrior Team is just not the same as last years team.  The 2011 team had to fight through every single round of the playoffs to get to Ford Field.  This year, the Warriors haven’t really been challenged in the playoffs.  Muskegon has too many athletes, a tricky offense, and a tough defense.  All characteristics a team must have if they want to win a championship.

Enjoy Ford Field everybody!

Final Score: Muskegon: 28 Rice: 14

Here is a link to the Muskegon “Ski Gun.”

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Lake Orion 27 Cass Tech 34

19 Nov

The 2010 and 2011 MHSAA Division 1 State Championship winners squared off in a much-anticipated semi-final game this previous Saturday.  Cass Tech and Lake Orion, teams that were ranked high in the polls all year long, battled it out in a 2012 semi-final game that lived up to all the hype leading up to the game.  The Technicians of Cass Tech struck first on a 71 td reception from division 1 recruit Damon Webb following both teams going 3 and out on their first possessions.  The Dragons would not wait too long to respond.  In fact on the ensuing possession that is, senior running back Jacob Miller plowed in from 1 yard out to tie the game at 7 all.  The big play on the drive being a 57 yard reception from slotback Christopher Leigh.  The Technicians would re-take the lead on their next possession.  Michigan commit Jourdan Lewis returned the kickoff to the Lake Orion 21.  Setting up a sophomore running back Mike Weber for a 5 yard td.  Following another 3 and out for the Dragons, Cass would strike again.  Cass would score on a 8 yard td run from Jayru Campbell, but on this drive, Cass had to work for it.  Campbell completed a pass to Weber on 4-4 setting them up for the td.  Lake Orion’s next drive would stall again and they would be forced to punt.  Lewis was back at his goal line when he received the punt and raced for what appeared the be an electrifying 100 td return, only to brought back on a penalty.  Cass would do nothing on their drive giving the ball back to Lake Orion before half.  With under 10 seconds to play in the half, senior quarterback Derek Delaura would find fellow senior Chaz Miller going across the middle for a 10 yard td to put the Dragons down only 7 21-14 going into half-time.  Lake Orion and Cass would not do anything of their first possessions to start the 2nd.  But Lake Orion would tie the game up at 21 on their 2nd possession of the 3rd quarter.  Methodically passing the ball down the field, Delaura would find Jeremy Miller in the end-zone.  Cass would respond to the pressure with a td of their own.  Lewis would come up come up with 3 big receptions on the drive and one of them being a 29 td catch.  Never count out the Dragons, slotback Corey Ester would sprint to end-zone for a 71 run to again tie the game so it appeared.  The Dragons missed the pat which would’ve tied the game.  Cass’ next drive would take them all the way to the Lake Orion 4 set up by a 26 yard rush from Weber.  Cass would try to power the ball in but failed all three times.  Coach Wilcher called a fake field goal trying to catch Lake Orion napping, but the Dragons were ready, stuffing Campbell back behind the line of scrimmage.  Lake Orion desperate to get something going could not get a first down.  Finally on 4th down Coach Bell decided to go for it and failed.  Cass would take over on downs inside Lake Orion territory and Mike Weber went in from 10 yards out to seal the game.  Lake Orion would have one final drive but could not do anything.

Final Score: Cass Tech 34 Lake Orion 27

Notes

I was impressed with multiple things in this game from Cass.  Their passing game, Jayru Campbell was looking for that one game where he could say “I took it over.”  Campbell went 10-13 for almost 200 yards in the effort with 2 passing and 1 rushing td.  A great individual performance.

The running game.  Cass has averaged about 300 yards on the ground all year.  Recently Mike Weber has stepped in the playoffs.  He had over 100 yards in the 4th quarter.  A great sign for the green and white going into the championship game.

Finally the Defense.  The Cass defense really showed their toughness throughout the game. For the most part they held a very solid Lake Orion ground game.  Cass must do it again if they wish to beat Detroit Catholic Central, a team that loves to run the ball, in the championship.

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Cass Tech vs. Lake Orion 2012

17 Nov

The best game in my opinion in Michigan is Cass Tech vs. Lake Orion at Troy Athens High School.  The very game was played in the 2010 state semi-finals.  In that game, Cass had the ball inside the Lake Orion 10 yard line with under a minute left to play.  Senior quarterback Keith Moore took the shotgun snap and was rolling to his left on an option play.  Looking to pitch the ball to wideout Kishon Wilcher, a Dragon player came out of no where and hit Keith in his attempt to pitch the ball.  The fumble was recovered by Lake Orion, sealing the game and sending the Dragons to Ford Field where they beat Plymouth for the Division 1 State Championship.  This year Cass comes in with a different identity than the 2010 team.  The 2010 Cass Tech team was called the “track team on turf” by some people, due to some of their players being under five foot nine.  The 2012 Cass Tech team, is certainly just as fast as that team, but they are also bigger.  The offensive line of Cass Tech is one of the best in the State of Michigan led by two 280 plus linemen David Dawson, and Michigan State commit Dennis Finley.  These two will have to be on their game if Cass hopes to have success with Mike Weber and Gary Hosey in the running game.  For Lake Orion, they just beat Macomb Dakota in the regionals last week by a score of 51-35.  The Dragons have an explosive ground game.  Running backs Jacob Miller and Christopher Leigh both had big games vs Dakota last week.  One thing about the Dragons is that they call themselves a spread team but they are under center more times than they are in the shotgun.  They love to send receivers in motion just about every play either handing the ball to them on a jet, or faking a handoff and giving it to a running back on a little belly play.  This game will come down the execution for both teams.  If Cass hopes to win, they must play solid defence especially in the running game.  If they give up 300 or more yards on the ground, this game will go to Lake Orion.  Lake Orion must establish the run game.  The Dragons don’t throw the ball much, which could be a problem if they are trailing late in the game.  In the end, Cass will get its revenge in the 2010 semi-finals sending them on a return trip to Ford Field.

Cass Tech: 28  Lake Orion: 24

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