MHSAA Football Playoffs - Semifinal Results

The semifinals are done and the state title games will be here at the end of the week. Enjoy the turkey and stuffing, because come Friday, teams will try to beat the stuffing out of each other. The games this past week were quite entertaining with a few teams making some waves. Other squads are back into a position they have been in plenty of times. We even had a state title game in 8 man football. Let’s get into the games!

8 Man Football Championship Game – North

Carsonville-Port Sanilac 59 Rapid River 20

Carsonville came out of the locker room and proceeded to dominate the game. The team scored on the second play of the game and never looked back.�� In the end, the Tigers outgained the Rockets 584-317. There was a running clock at the end of the third quarter. Quarterback Hayden Adams completed 12 of his 17 passes for 324 yards, five touchdowns, an interception, and also ran for 130 yards and two more scores. Trevor Adams caught four passes for 141 yards and three scores. Danny Rickett caught six passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. When he ran the ball he gained 78 yards and a score on five carries. Ryan Davis added 74 yards on 11 rushes. Steven Koehler made 20 tackles and had a sack. Rapid River quarterback Jake Pearson threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Jake Berglund caught two touchdown passes.

Detroit

Detroit Cass Tech 6 Utica Eisenhower 3

This game is very much like the game that Cass Tech won last week; a low scoring affair with plenty of defense. The weather didn’t help much with the winds whipping at Troy Athens High School. Cass Tech quarterback Jayru Campbell completed six of his 15 passes for 38 yards and ran four times for negative two. Royce Jenkins-Stone carried the ball 21 times for 113 yards and scored the game’s only touchdown. Deon Drake ran 14 times for 49 yards. On the Utica side, Joey Zerafa completed 10 of his 29 passes for 68 yards and two interceptions. He also lost five yards on five rushing attempts. Shane King was the team’s leading rusher with 10 attempts for 20 yards. Yousseff Bujaidar caught six passes for 42 yards. Daniel Gojcaj hit an 18 yard field goal for Utica’s only score.

Mid-Michigan

Mendon 34 New Lothrop 13

In all football games, the winning team typically wins the line of scrimmage. This game was no different. It also helps when you play “keep away” and dominate the time of possession. In the third quarter Mendon won the TOP battle 11:45-0:15 and for the second half they held the ball 21:32 as compared to 2:18 for New Lothrop. Quarterback Chance Nightingale completed two of his three passes for 18 yards while also running 14 times, gaining 76 yards, and scoring four rushing touchdowns. Running back Tyler Harris ran 33 times for 155 yards. Tanner Cook ran 15 times for 83 yards and scored once. Cook caught both of Nightingale’s passes for those 18 yards. On the New Lothrop side, Austin Newman completed eight of his 18 passes for 89 yards and ran seven times for two yards. Michael Mucha ran six times for 34 yards while Austin Severn ran six times for 11 yards and a score. Severn also completed his one pass attempt for 39 yards and a score. Wade Erhardt caught four passes for 72 yards and a score.

Capital Area

Lansing Catholic 42 Grand Rapids West Catholic 35

Many people wondered what would happen in this game. Was Lansing Catholic the real deal? Was the real state championship last week with GRWC and Menominee? All of those questions were answered by the time the sun set on Saturday with the Cougars were headed to a state championship game and Grand Rapids West Catholic was preparing for basketball season. It was a very close game though. Lansing Catholic quarterback (and Central Michigan commit, I love saying that!) Cooper Rush completed 29 of his 43 passes for 387 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also ran the ball 13 times for 48 additional yards and another score. Matt Macksood caught eight passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. When he ran the ball, he gained 56 yards on six attempts. Jack Swain ran twice for 21 yards and also caught five passes for 68 yards and a score. For Grand Rapids West Catholic, quarterback Tommy Staskiewicz completed six of his 16 passes for 87 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also ran 20 times for 182 yards and a score. Jalin Faison was the workhorse for his team, running 33 times for 233 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle O’Hearn caught two passes for 26 yards and a score.