MHSAA Football Week Six

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. This can describe the two ways most teams’ seasons are going. Schools ether are being successful, or

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. This can describe the two ways most teams’ seasons are going. Schools ether are being successful, or not living up to the standards that they are used to achieving. Bumps and bruises are a fact of life right now for football players. The ones who can deal with it better are the ones who lived in the weight room this past summer. This week, we have all teams that have not been written about. All the games are big ones between 5-0 squads with huge implications. Let’s get right into it!

Carrollton (5-0) at Ithaca (5-0) (Friday September 28. 7pm)

This game is more or less to see who will win the Tri Valley Conference West Division. The Cavaliers of Carrollton come into the game 5-0 for the third time since 2008. After years of mediocrity (or much worse…which was the case far too often), they have a coach and a system in place that enables them to be pretty competitive. Coach Greg Wasmer has been riding future Chippewa running back Derrick Nash. So far this season, he is has 1,048 yards. Last week, Nash ran 32 times for 250 yards and two scores in their 35-14 win over Merrill. Quarterback Jordan Roberts completed five of his eight passes for 102 yards and two scores. Malik Vasquez and Roman Matthews each caught a touchdown pass. Collin Justice chipped in a 24 yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. Coach Wasmer says this week is his team’s “David and Goliath moment.” He says his team has been average so far and need to step up.

Ithaca hasn’t lost a game since the 2009 Division 6 semifinal and has rattled off two straight state championships since then. This spread offense team can really play its game and frequently imposes their will upon others. Coach Terry Hessbrook likes the way his team has started games in the past two weeks. They have been playing at a high level from the opening kickoff through the end. Last week, they beat up Breckenridge 70-0. Quarterback Travis Smith completed eight of his 10 passes for 171 yards and two scores. Bryan Shaw ran the ball eight times for 75 yards and three touchdowns. Zach Allen caught two passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. The defense came through with two touchdowns; one on a 23 yard fumble return by Bradley Martyn and another on Eli Villalobos’ 52 yard interception return.

Marcellus (5-0) at Watervliet (5-0) (Friday September 28, 7pm)

I think this game would be very interesting to watch. These two teams are at the opposite ends of the offensive spectrum; Marcellus uses a run oriented Wing T attack while Watervliet utilizes the spread offense to pass the ball around. Both are high scoring teams, averaging over 40 points per game. Last week against Lawrence, Marcellus put 47 points on the board. Mason New ran for 147 yards and four touchdowns. Marcus Pompey gained 142 yards and two touchdowns. They also threw an interception when they actually did pass. If Marcellus can win this game, they will have punched their ticket to the MHSAA playoffs for the first time since 2003. This game is pretty important in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Each team has only played one conference game, but there are three teams at 5-0 and 1-0 in league play. Friday night one of those teams will have a mark against them.

For Watervliet, the spread is working quite well. They have a great receiver in Travis Bolin. He has 16 touchdowns and has only caught the ball 34 times. Last week, he caught four footballs for 116 yards and scored on all four of those plays. He also ran for 55 yards on eight carries and kicked five PATs. Quarterback Jake Cowsert completed eight of his 12 passes for 178 yards and four scores while also adding 45 yards on 12 rushing attempts. Javauntae Thomas also carried the ball 12 times for 82 yards and a score. The Panthers are not a historically tough program. They have had good times as well as bad. But last year they made the regional final and have so far this year they have been doing quite well. This will be the first big test of the season.

Lake City (5-0) at Beal City (5-0) (Friday September 28, 7pm)

Lake City has been destroying teams this year. They have outscored opponents 248-33. Twenty six of those points have come in the past two games. Last week, they beat up McBain 28-13. It was a significant win because it was against their rival on their rival’s field. Not only that, but it was only the sixth time since 1990 that they had beaten their biggest rival and McBain had won 18 of the last 21. In the game, Lake City went up 21-0 in the first eight minutes of the game. Quarterback Drew Marion completed nine of his 19 passes for 184 yards and three scores. He also ran 24 times for 140 additional yards. Dylan Allard caught three passes for 99 yards. On defense, Kevin Kunkel made 13 tackles and came up with an interception. The Trojans haven’t won a conference title since 1986 so a win this week should put them in a position to rectify that situation.

The Aggies of Beal City are considered a great program. They haven’t missed the playoffs since 1999 and that was the only time they missed out dating back to the 1989 season. In that time, they have been to four state championship games and brought home titles in 2009 and 1994. Last week, they thrashed Pinconning 42-0. The rushing attack is what shredded Pinny’s defense. Ty Rollin ran 10 times for 91 yards and two scores. Joe Rau ran six times for 55 yards and a score. Sam Schafer and Austin Cook each scored rushing touchdowns. Schafer is also the quarterback, and he completed two of his three passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. Cook caught that lone TD pass from 60 yards out. Nate Schafer recorded 4.5 tackles and two sacks in the defensive effort. These two teams are going to battle hard tonight. The winner will have the inside track to the Highland Conference title for 2012.

Marysville (5-0) at St. Clair (5-0) (Friday September 28, 7pm)

The Vikings of Marysville sit at 5-0 for the first time in nearly a decade (2003). It was also the last time these two teams met while both were undefeated. Last week, Marysville beat Madison Heights Lamphere 49-0. Running back Jared Gross ran the ball six times for 51 yards. Tony Sorrell also gained 51 yards but ran it 11 times and scored twice. Quarterback Josh Smith completed eight of his 10 passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns.  Cole Pawson caught three of them for 59 yards and a score. It was a thorough domination and lots of player contributed. Now they get to play a rival and see who has the possibility of winning the Macomb Area Conference Gold Division.

St. Clair also had a nice win. They beat Warren Woods-Tower 42-6. The option offense was working to perfection and the defense had some nice stops as well. The Meldrum boys, Blake and Bo, both had a touchdown. Bo finished with 10 runs for 188 yards and three touchdowns. Jared Tobey ran five times for 78 yards and a score. He didn’t complete any of his three pass attempts though. St. Clair racked up almost 350 yards of rushing for the game. It will be very exciting at East China Stadium tonight when these two teams and communities get together to cheer their football squads on.