Division 5 - Titans Send Pioneers Packing 42-7

Division 5 is fun football to watch. They have some players who are huge and going to go on, but with middle sized Class B schools, most won’t go on. Kids

Division 5 is fun football to watch. They have some players who are huge and going to go on, but with middle sized Class B schools, most won’t go on. Kids play because they love the sport. Clare players all play for each other. They are totally about the team and not individual accomplishments. They wore green jerseys with white pants and green helmets. 

It almost looked like Michigan State out there…especially when their fight song was the Michigan State fight song. Jackson Lumen Christi has a lot of championship game experience. They have won plenty of state titles and been in the game many times this decade. Coach Herb Brogan seems to always have a quality team on the field. They were wearing white jerseys with gold pants and told helmets.

Jackson Lumen Christi took the opening kickoff to the house on a nice 90 yard run by Rafe Bellers. It was the first time that anyone has ever done that to open a championship game and the third longest kickoff return in championship game history. After a Clare punt, JLC ran a reverse halfback pass which Michael Lather completed to Jacob Hersha for a 51 yard gain. Quarterback Conor Sullivan was able to put the ball in the end zone with a one yard run. So just like that, Jackson Lumen Christi was up 14-0 before four minutes had run off the clock. When Clare got the ball back, they seemed to settle down a bit and start playing football. Kris English completed a pass to Robbie Hitchcock. English was intercepted a few plays later by Bellers which ended their third drive. Clare recovered a fumble on the first play and retook control at the 37 yard line of Jackson. Facing a fourth and three, English took the snap from the center, rolled left, but threw incomplete. Four plays later, Sullivan lofted a pass to Sam Ward who caught it and fell into the end zone for a 43 yard scoring strike. With 1:37 left in the first quarter, JLC was up 21-0. Tanner Kennedy intercepted another English pass on the Clare 41 to end the first quarter.

Sullivan lofted a 38 yard scoring strike to Ward for another touchdown and pushed the lead to 28. It was beginning to get out of control for Clare. A promising Clare drive was set back when a pitch was fumbled and they were forced to punt. Jackson Lumen Christi took over on the 23. Jackson shot themselves in the foot with a holding penalty. On third and 18, Sullivan scrambled left and right before he found Maurice Jones for an 84 yard gain down to the two. Two plays later, Sullivan snuck it into the end zone. The Pioneers moved the ball into JLC territory using the legs and arm of Kris English. When faced with a third and eight from the 27, English lofted a pass towards Matt English but it was tipped out of the way at the end zone, bringing up fourth down. They went for it on fourth down and completed the pass to Tyler Beatty for a fresh set of downs. English scrambled for 13 yards to the five. Finally, English found Matt English in the end zone for a ten yard touchdown. Clare kicked off but Jackson Lumen Christi just ran a play to end the half.

Clare came out to take the kickoff in the second half. They couldn’t do much with it and had to punt the ball away. Bellers had two very nice runs and helped get inside the Clare 30. Sullivan is a tough runner; he always keeps his feet moving and gets an extra yard on every rush. Facing a third and 19, Michael Lather threw a pass which slipped through a Clare defender’s hands and dropped right into Conor Sullivan’s. The score gave the Titans a 35 point lead and the running clock rule was enforced. Clare moved the ball some, but a few bad plays put them in a fourth and 19 situation and they had to punt. The same happened to Jackson Lumen Christi

Again Clare moved the ball but an interception by Kennedy stopped the drive. The Titans took over on their 38. Three different running backs carried the ball and got it down to the 30. Neither team could score in the fourth and the running clock made the game go quickly. Despite a valiant effort by the Pioneers, Jackson Lumen Christi dominated the game from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.

For Jackson Lumen Christi, Rafe Bellers led the running game. He carried eight times for 41 yards and also returned the opening kickoff for 90 yards. Quarterback Conor Sullivan ran 11 times for 39 yards and two touchdowns. He completed three of his four passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Interestingly enough, he caught two passes for 24 yards and a touchdown. Sam Ward caught two footballs for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Maurice Jones caught one pass for 83 yards. On the Clare side, quarterback Kris English led the rushing attack with 37 yards on eight carries. He passed for 71 yards on seven completions (19 attempts). Travis Smith carried the ball 10 times for 28 yards. Matt English caught three footballs for 30 yards and the lone touchdown.