MHSAA Football - Week Four - Battle Hard and Battle Tough!

Week Four is here! The midpoint of the regular season is quickly approaching. Teams really need to be hitting their stride right now because conference games are almost every week now. Sure, you can still make the playoffs and not win the conference, but everyone wants to win their conference games. Win it and get a gym banner. The slate of games this week is interesting. I have even put in an 8man football game! If you ever want me to profile a game, please head into the Phalanx Forum here on Spartan Nation and tell me. I’m easy to find, my username in the forum is Jeff.Cottrell, almost the same name as my byline! Let’s get into the column and see what big games are coming up this week. Sorry it’s a bit shorter this week. My daughter was home sick and I wasn’t able to post it until now.

Capital Area

DeWitt (3-0) at Ionia (3-0) (Friday September 20, 7pm)

The DeWitt game is always a measuring stick. The Panthers have been pretty darn good since the turn of the millennia. If you can stack up well against DeWitt, you know you have a good team. This year is no exception. The Panthers are 3-0 for the ninth time since 2000. The last two games have seen the Panthers outscore their opponents 109-0. In the game with Fowlerville last week, the Panthers took a 42-0 lead into the half and didn’t look back. They scored on six of their seven first half possessions. Quarterback Jacob Johnson completed 15 of his 17 passes for 208 yards and five touchdowns. Josh Borta had seven catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Michael Roberson caught three for 32 yards and a score. Christopher Ruby had an 18 yard touchdown reception and ran twice for 55 yards and a score. John Lippert led the rushing attack with 67 yards on eight carries. The defense only allowed 38 yards and three first downs in the game.

Ionia is in a bit different situation than normal. The last time these Bulldogs had a winning season was in 2006. They have already matched the win total for last year. If they were to finish undefeated, they would have matched their win total for the previous four seasons! Obviously, they are off to the best start in a long time. The last start this good was when they rattled off seven wins to begin the 1991 season. Last week, they beat Owosso 45-24. Quarterback Austin Gregory completed 13 of his 16 passes for 184 yards and three scores and ran 15 times for an additional 61 yards and two more scores. Colin Prominski caught five of those passes for 106 yards and a score. Bailey Mitchell grabbed two passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. JD Zamarron caught a single pass, but it went 10 yards for a score. Running back Kyle Parks toted the rock 23 times for 102 and two scores. Big thanks to ECam of the Phalanx Forum for suggestion this game.

Detroit

Detroit De La Salle (2-1) vs. Brother Rice (3-0) (Saturday September 21, 7pm at Hurley Field in Berkley)

I always find it extremely difficult to count out a team that plays in the Catholic League Central Division in Detroit. It seems like year after year, these teams play in state title games, regardless of what the regular season record was. The exception to that train of thought is when these Catholic League teams play each other. Last week, DeLaSalle destroyed Harper Woods Chandler Park Academy. Quarterback Giovanni Recigno tossed the ball around and gained 121 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Sam Badalamenti rushed for 110 yards and three scores on 17 carries.

Al Fracassa. No write up about the Warriors can start with anything but the living legend that is at the top of the program. Brother Rice had a nice game last week. They beat Flint Carman-Ainsworth by a score of 31-6. They didn’t allow C-A to score until there was just over two minutes left in the game. Quarterback Alex Malzone completed 10 of his 12 passes for 194 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Grant Perry caught two passes for 88 yards and a score while Corey Lacanaria grabbed six balls for 76 yards and a score. Leading the Warriors in rushing was Shon Powell, who carried 19 times for 101 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Thomas also chipped in two carries for 25 yards and a score.

West/8-Man Football

Battle Creek St. Phillip (3-0) at Burr Oak (3-0) (Friday September 20, 7pm)

It’s been a while, so I figured it was time to write about some 8-man football. The information is a bit harder to come by, but I was able to find some stats. Last week, BC St. Phillip annihilated Tekonsha 75-0. It was 63-0 at the half.   Quarterback Brendan Gausselin tossed two touchdowns (51 yards, 14 yards) to Hunter Haley. Haley also had a pick-six from 37 yards out. Running back Isaac Cloward scored two touchdowns (18 yards, 20 yards). John Sweeney scored twice as well (14 yards, six yards).

This is the one problem with writing about small schools and 8-man football. Sometimes, no one writes about the game. Burr Oak beat Litchfield by the score of 72-0. Wide receiver/defensive lineman (something tells me that only happens at small schools) Cole Summey finally got to see some game action last week, but banged up his knee. He caught a touchdown pass and rushed for 50 yards. On the defensive side, end Brent Everitt and middle linebacker Alex Munoz are the leaders. Burr Oak hasn’t started 3-0 since 1988, but they did not have a team from 1990 until 2003. The schedule gets really tough now, with Battle Creek St. Phillip this week and undefeated Portland St. Patrick next week.

High School Spartans

Jayru Campbell – Cass Tech – 13 of 16 for 185 yards. He also scored on a 24 yard touchdown run. Cass Tech beat Detroit Renaissance 32-6

Byron Bullough – St. Francis – 30 rushing yards. Coach Vaughn said he had some nice cuts and not just great blocks. Traverse City St. Francis beat Elk Rapids 36-36.

Matt Sokol – Rochester Adams – 21 carries for 125 yards and three touchdowns. Rochester Adams lost to Oak Park 30-36.

Jalen Watts-Jackson – Orchard Lake St. Mary’s – He had two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. He also scored on a 43 yard punt return. OLSM beat Detroit Consortium 72-22.