Manchester, Ypsilanti prevail on rough night for county high school football teams
The Manchester High School football team may have earned itself a home playoff game by beating Hillsdale 26-13 on Friday night. In fact, coach Wes Gall says he wouldn't be surprised if Hillsdale made a return trip for next week’s postseason opener.
"It would be a wonderful thing to make them drive all the way back here again," he said.
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The game was close until midway through the fourth quarter, when Nate Bossory hit Devin Jose on a hitch-and-go pattern that resulted in an 80-yard touchdown and snapped a 13-13 tie.
Manchester’s defense got the Dutchmen the ball right back and a Nick Cozart 3-yard touchdown run accounted for the game’s final points.
Bossory completed 11-of-21 passes for 182 yards, including four to Jose for 105 yards.
Jimmy Kurasz (15 carries, 47 yards) scored a 5-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that pulled Manchester within 10-7 at halftime. A pair of Tyler Stennet third quarter field goals made it 13-10 heading into the final 12 minutes.
DEARBORN 30, SKYLINE 27
The season ended almost exactly how it started for the Eagles, but with fortunes reversed.
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Nine weeks after winning the first game in program history when Hartland missed a last second field goal, Skyline lost on a 27-yarder by Dearborn's Eric Hansen with time expiring to break a 27-27 tie.
Trailing 27-14 in the third quarter, Jordan Woods sparked Skyline's comeback attempt with a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:43 left in the third quarter. It was Woods' second score of the game, but he wasn't done yet. He would throw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Theron Wilson with 5:43 left in the game.
An Eric Lundberg extra point tied the score 27-27, setting up Hansen's heroics.
Skyline trailed 20-14 at half with Woods catching his 16th touchdown pass of the year. Jake Hirschl also scored for Skyline on a five-yard run.
HASLETT 24, CHELSEA 13
The Bulldogs were limited to 68 yards of offense in the first half and trailed 24-0 after three quarters in Haslett.
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Andy Nelson put Chelsea on the scoreboard with a 29-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter and Colton Platt added a 14-yard score with 9:44 left to play.
But the Bulldogs (7-2) could get no closer to Haslett (5-4), which took its big lead thanks mainly to the running of Conor Brewer (112 yards, 2 TDs) and a 42-yard fumble recovery returned for a score.
Berkley Edwards rushed 16 times for 72 yards for Chelsea (7-2). Nelson finished with 26 yards rushing and Platt 21 yards.
HARTLAND 14 , LINCOLN 13
Trailing by one point with 30 seconds remaining, Lincoln coach Chris Westfall had a decision to make. Kick an extra point and force overtime, or go for the win.
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With a playoff berth in hand, Westfall went for the win. TJ O'Bryan rolled out and looked for his favorite target -- Rare Williams -- but the pass fell just out of reach.
"We felt our best chance to win was right then and there, rather than in overtime," Westfall said. "Our defense was beat up and we had made a fantastic play to score and be in that position, so we thought it was our best chance to win."
Trailing 14-7, Lincoln's defense blocked a Hartland field goal attempt with less than two minutes to play. O'Bryan hit Tyree Waller on a skinny post near midfield. Waller stayed up despite being hit right away, and was then sandwiched by a pair of defensive backs, but managed to break those tackles, as well, and sprinted the rest of the way for the 65-yard score.
"It was honestly one of the greatest plays I've ever seen in all my years of coaching," Westfall said of Waller's touchdown. "It was just a fantastic individual effort."
Lincoln led 7-0 at half. Hartland scored with 30 seconds left in the third quarter and took the lead with six minutes left in the game.
"We felt like it was a trap game. We tried to avoid it and talked about it before the game, but that playoff goal was so huge and we kind of felt it tonight, and plus Hartland's a darn good football team," Westfall said.
NOVI 42, SALINE 21
Derek Ince threw for three touchdowns, and Justin Brooks ran for three as Novi squashed Saline's outside chance of making the playoffs.
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The Hornets (4-5) were led by quarterback Reece Dils through the air and on the ground. The junior ran for a touchdown and threw for another. Saline running back Justin Barnes, who rushed for 581 yards and 11 touchdowns over the past two weeks, was kept out of the end zone and held to 62 yards on 17 carries.
Saline struck first with a 54-yard pass from Dils to Gage Hammond. A Dylan Mulder extra point put the Hornets up 7-0. Novi answered with three straight touchdowns and took a 28-14 lead into the half.
Brooks rushed for two scores in the third quarter and Saline narrowed the margin with a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Matt Barbu.
PINCKNEY 37, DEXTER 14
The host Pirates jumped out to a 10-0 halftime lead and though the Dreadnaughts got their offense going in the second half, six turnovers (three fumbles, three interceptions) doomed them in the end.
"We just made stupid mistakes, we shot ourselves in the foot on drives," said Dexter coach Brian Baird.
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Dexter senior quarterback Michael Mioduszewski was 14-of-37 passing for 197 yards a tochdown and an interception, but his 43 yards rushing was well under his 123.3 per-game average.
"They beat us up on the line of scrimmage," said Baird. "They were stronger than us up front and it showed."
Jay Lewis led the Dreadnaughts (3-6) with three receptions for 66 yards.
YPSILANTI 50, DETROIT COMMUNITY 0
PETERSBURG-SUMMERFIELD 35, WHITMORE LAKE 12
Mark Jenkins rushed for 85 yards, including a 56-yard third quarter touchdown, as the Trojans finished their season with a 1-8 record.
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Dylan St. Charles and Jacob Zagor combined to complete 9-of-18 passes for 86 yards for Whitmore Lake (1-6 Tri-County Conference). Zagor connected with Josh Redlinger on an 8-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
IDA 21, WILLOW RUN 20
The Flyers came back from a 21-7 halftime deficit, but had an extra point blocked with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference.
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On fourth-and-long from the 24-yard line with 1:30 left, the Flyers (4-5) decided to go for a first down instead of attempting a long field goal. Quarterback Kareem Lovelace dropped back to pass and had a man in the end zone, but had his arm hit as he threw.
"Very disheartening," Willow Run coach Rufus Pipkins said following the loss. "If we had one more quarter, we're probably a touchdown or two better. ...At the end they (Ida) were really playing not to lose."
Lovelace finished 10-of-18 passing for 193 yards and a touchdown. Deshawn Gohl caught six passes for 135 yards to lead the Flyers.
Pipkins said he was especially proud of how his team's 13-0 second half effort.
When you count them out, that's when they play their best," he said.
SOUTH LYON EAST 24, MILAN 7
It was an emotional night for coach Jesse Hoskins as he said good bye to a group of seniors who didn't have the season of which they'd always dreamt. Instead of their annual trip to the playoffs, the Big Reds finish 1-8, the program's lowest win total since 1983.
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"Our seniors have very high character," Hoskins said. "When you lose, people look at you as a failure because you didn''t win a lot of football games. But when I look at our team, I see a success because of all the hard work they put in."
East held a 10-0 lead at half. Milan scored its only points of the game on a 7-yard pass from Robert Kanitz to Steven Price in the third quarter.
FLINT CARMAN-AINSWORTH 38, HURON 7
The River Rats ended their season 1-8, tying the second lowest win total in school history. Huron was 1-7 in 1973 and 0-8 in 1967, its first year of existence. Carman-Ainsworth (6-3) secured a playoff berth with the win.