The 2008
Michigan High School Football Playoffs |
First Round
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Dukes
33
Final
1
2
3
4
OT
F
(8-2)
Garber
0
14
6
13
0
33
(8-2)
Millington
7
13
0
0
0
20
Millington,
MI
Cardinals
20
Dukes Get Revenge
Over Rival Cards
With 19-0 2nd Half
Millington
- It was the rematch
that both schools could
have only hoped for and
it came in the 1st round
of the playoffs.
On September 26th,
Garber came into
Millington, started
strong with a 13-0
halftime lead but lost
control in the 2nd half
with Millington scoring
20 unanswered.
Down 20-13, the Dukes
came back and cut it to
20-19 and went for the
win on the 2 point
conversion but the pass
fell incomplete.
What a way to set up the
playoff matchup between
the two rivals and
Co-Champions of the
Tri-Valley East.
While Millington topped
Garber head to head, the
Cardinals fell to Birch
Run later on in the
season, creating the
tie. Not a bad way
to settle the score for
a game that would mean
bragging rights and a
trip to the district
final.
This time around, it was
Millington that got off
to the quick start.
Halfway through the
opening quarter, Ken
Hoffman picked up a Duke
fumble and scampered 33
yards for the game's
first score.
Unlike the first game
however, the other team
answered.
Garber did it with a methodical drive
but ended it through the air on a wide
open pitch and catch from Jake Hebert to
Todd Walraven, 22 yards for the score.
Walraven had gotten behind the secondary
and a scrambling Hebert found him just
in time on a third and seven. The
rest of the half belonged to Millington
howver.
After moving the ball down to the Garber
28, Kyle Hemingway did the rest of the
damage. Hemingway took the handoff
and followed his blockers off right
guard, broke a few arm tackles and then
raced the rest of the way to paydirt and
the lead, 14-7 after the PAT.
Millington's offense would not get much
of a break. Garber fumbled the
ensuing kickoff and the Cardinals took
over at the Garber 25 with 6:52 left in
the half. On 2nd and 9 from the
24, QB Tyler Reinhert couldn't find
anyone open so he went off to the races
up the right sideline and picked up 17
yards, a first down and first and goal
from the 7. On the very next play
Hemingway got the call and cashed in
again, as he busted through the right
side of the line and crossed the goal
line with little resistance in the
endzone. The PAT was bloced,
keeping the score at 20-7.
With Lady Luck and momentum on the side
of the Cards, the Dukes had to do
something before halftime and they had
plenty of time to do it with just under
6 minutes to play in the half. On
their first big third down, Hebert hit
Jimmy Cornejo on a middle screen,
picking up the 7 they needed and a few
more. They then were faced with
another 3rd and long, this time Hebert
found Walraven for 12 yards to the
Millington 37. As it was for most
of the game, it became the Andrew Aho
show, as Aho carried it a few times down
to the 15, first down. With 24
seconds to go, Garber got it down just
short of the 5 and the first down,
facing fourth down. Aho picked up
the crucial first down down to the 4 and
then with 14 seconds to go, the Dukes
used their last timeout. After the
timeout, the Dukes went to the air, as
Hebert found Cornejo sitting in the
middle of the zone for the catch, just
acress the goal line and the score.
After Kyle Asel's point after, it was
20-14 and that was the score after two
quarters of play.
Though tight throughout, the scoreboard
in the 2nd half belonged to the Dukes.
With just over 4 minutes to go in the
third quarter and Garber stallled at the
Millington 43, the Dukes pulled a trick
out of the bag and it wasn't so much the
surprise as it was the execution.
The Cardinal staff was screaming fake
along with the call to get an extra
player on the field. The Dukes did
indeed fake it and they did it with only
10 guys on the defensive side of the
ball. Garber went pitch right to
Aho, who then rumbled up the sideline
for the first down and 15 yards down to
the Millington 28. After pounding
the ball down to the goal line, Aho
finished the job from three yards out
and just 45 seconds remaining in the
thrid quarter. The all important
extra point went wide right however and
the score was deadlocked at 20.
Garber held Millington on defense to get
the ball back and immediatley started to
move the ball. The Dukes were then
faced with 4th and 3 at teh Millington
27 with just over 6 minutes remaining.
Herbert went deep to Cornejo but under
pressure, the ball was underthrown and
intercepted by a leaping Ethan Wright.
Millington assumed possession but now
had the ball deep inside of their own
territory. With 3:33 Dave
Laskowski putt imense pressure on
Reinhert, forcing the QB to get out of
the pocket. Laskowski stayed
persistent and managed to make enough
contact to force Reinert down at the 9
yard line. It was the next play
that everyone in red would want to do
over. Reinhert dropped back,
looked to his right flats and zipped it
out to his intended receiver. He
never saw Aho come across the field and
in front of the receiver, picking it off
in stride and into the endzone for an 8
yard INT touchdown. Asel added the
point after and with 3:05 left in the
game, the Dukes were up 27-20, still
plenty of time left for the Cards.
The Cardinals ignored the deficet and
the clock as they moved the ball up the
field. With 2nd and 1 and the ball
at the Garber 28, the next play sealed
the coffin for Millington. Reinert
took off with the ball and weaved in and
out of traffic. An arm got in
however and stripped the ball loose.
When the whistle blew, it was a the
light blue and white that came up with
the football and ultimately the win.
On the very next play, Aho took the
handoff, hit his hole and burst up the
middle. Once he got past the front
line, their was nothing in between him
and the endzone as he raced 62 yards for
the score, making it 33-20, the PAT was
no good. Millingtton had one last
chance with the ball but turned it over
on downs.
For Garber, it was sweet revenge, for
Millington it was a game of what could
have been. It was a heavyweight
bout that went blow for blow and in the
end, it was the team that made just a
few more big plays than the other with
Garber capitalizing late in the game.
Millington played their hearts out and
completed another succesfful year, a
champoinship year. The Dukes will
now prepare for another Tri-Valley team,
this time from the Central, the champion
Freeland Falcons. Garber heads to
Freeland next week in what should be
another battle in the trenches between
two hard nosed running clubs.
Eskymos
41
Final
1
2
3
4
OT
F
(5-5)
Escanaba
0
0
0
0
0
41
(8-2)
John
Glenn
0
0
0
0
0
52
John
Glenn
High
School
Bobcats
52
John Glenn Turns
Tide In 2nd Half To
Advance
Bangor Township
- Story
Story
Vikings
22
Final
1
2
3
4
OT
F
(7-3)
Swan
Valley
14
0
0
8
0
22
(9-1)
Freeland
6
21
15
7
0
49
Falcon
Stadium
Falcons
49
Freeland Wins Opener
Behind Run Of 49
Unanswered
Freeland
- On the road and
the underdog, Swan
Valley did just about
everything right to
start the game and get
momentum on the
visitors' side.
They took the opening
kickoff and marched the
ball down the field and
at one point converted
three third downs in a
row with the legs and
running of QB Cody Call.
Call called his own
number from 6 yards out
to put the game's first
points on the board.
On Freeland's next
possesion the turned the
ball over on a pick.
QB Joe Ruhlman tried to
go deep, down the left
sideline but was
intercepted at the Swan
Valley 35. On the
very next play, the
Viking's speedster,
Marck Berden took the
handoff up the gut and
then burst through the
line, cut back up to the
left sideline and outran
everyone in the Falcon
secondary for a 65 yard
score. After Andy
Collison's extra point,
it was 14-0 Swan
Valley..... again.
Freeland also started
their regular season
contest, down 14 before
clawing back and sending
the game into overtime
where the Falcons won a
34-27 nailbiter to stay
on track towards a
league title.
On the ensuing kickoff, Justin Pettenger
fumbled the football but, fortnately for
the Falcons, out of bounds. After
Berden's toudhdown and the fumble, it
was like a switch got turned in, a fire
lit under all of the Falcons, including
Pettenger. Freeland went on a
ramgage, scoring the next four
touchdowns. RB Alix Fisher got the
party started with a 21 yard scoring run
in the first. The score was set up
by a long Pettenger run, just moments
before that saw Justin breaking tackles
and dragging defenders an extra 7 yards.
Then Pettenger himself scored next, with
a 27 yard TD run in the 2nd. Still
in the 2nd and on Freeland's next
possession, Gideon Paetz found the
endzone for Freeland with a nice 25 yard
scoring run. Freeland got the 2
point conversion afterwards as Ruhlman
evaded pressure, rolled right and found
a wide open Jake Bickerstaff by his
lonesome in the back of the endzone.
The two hooked up again with just 2.1
seconds to go before the half, this time
on a 5 yard scoring strike.
Ruhlman rolled left this time and just
waited patiently untili Bickerstaff
found a gap. After Justin
Krenzke's exttra point, it was 27-14
Freeland. The last score of the
half was set up on a beautiful trick
play that started off as a screen pass
and was passed down the field for a
first down on 4th and 12. With
time running down, the Falcons managed
the clock wisely, obvsiously getting
their money's worth.
The 2nd half turned out to be more of
the same as Fisher piled up the yards
and tucked away three more scores,
bumping his total up to 207 yards and 4
scores in the playoff opener. By
the time the 4th quarter rolled around,
it was a running clock. The
powerful Freeland offense amassed almots
450 yards of rushing offense, with
Pettenger adding 137 and Paetz 67 yards,
to the astonishing run total. The
Vikings did add one more to the board in
the fourth quarter as Call hit Matt
Reardon on a 14 yard scoring strike
along with a 2 point coversion to make
the score final at 49-22. Swan
Valley will await the winner of
Saturday's Garber vs. Millington rematch
as a District Final opponent.
Freeland has a higher playoff point
average than both teams, meaning that
next weeks' game will be a Freeland
regardless of the outcome tomorrow.
Hornet
27
Final
1
2
3
4
OT
F
(6-4)
New
Lothrop
14
13
0
0
0
27
(10-0)
Sacred
Hrt.
7
28
6
22
0
56
Kelly
Shorts
Stadium
Irish
56
Irish Get All They
Bargained For In
First, Pull Away In
2nd Half
Mt. Pleasant
- Irish score 21
un-answered in the 2nd
half while keeping New
Lothrop out of the
endzone in the final two
quarters en-route to a
56-27 win. While
the 2nd half was
one-sided and
'relatively' normal
paced, the first half
was an almost
un-paralled show of
offensive fireworks.
New Lothrop started the
game up 14-0. They
took the opening drive
70 yards to draw first
blood. Sacred
Heart answered with 15
straight but it was the
final 3 and a half
minutes of the first
half where the game
turned from a fast paced
game on the gridiron to
an all out track meet.
New Lothrop regained the
lead on a 13 Yard Brian
Sheridan grab for a
touchdown. SH
answered with a 61 yard
Tyler White run to
paydirt, followed up by
a Jim Cardon 34 yard
inteception return for a
score, pushing the game
to 27-20. The
Hornets then dialed in a
score, tying the game at
27 with just 26 ticks
remaining on the clock.
Mike Lilly hit Ethan
Howard on a 52 yard
pitch and catch that set
the Irish up in scoring
position and with 2
seconds remaining,
Lilly hit Billy Myler for a 28 yard
score, sending the game to halftime at
35-27 after Paul DeSalvo's 2 point catch
from Lilly.
Sacred Heart scored on the opening
possession of the 2nd half, as Lilly
kept it himself on a 2 yard QB draw but
the two point attempt was broken up.
Up 41-27, the Irish defense bent quite a
bit but did not break as they held New
Lothrop out of the endzone after the
Hornets had first and goal on a long
methodical drive. The Hornets got
no closer than the 6 as they tried to
force it into the middle of the zone on
4th and goal but the play fell
incomplete. Sacred Heart added two
more scores to put the game away with
Lilly on another scamper and Myler a 14
yard run for a touchdown.
Lilly finished with 257 yards through
the air and 2 passing scores. RB
Garrett Chapin had a solid game with 94
yards on the ground. Myler
finsihed with 53 rushing yards.
Howard 97 receiving yards, Myler
84, White 67, and DeSalvo 56 yards.
Cardon 18 tackles and two interceptions
on defense, Pococke had two fumble
recoveries and Alex Szostek finished
with 15 tackles. The Irish head to
Beal City next weekend for the District
Final.
New Lothrop's effort was led by Marc
Confer who led the ground game with 135
yards, while Trevor Vincke had 128
through the air. Zack Maike had 11
tackles, C.J. Dice 10 tackles and two QB
takedowns. Jacob Emmendorfer finished
with nine tackles and a sack. New
Lothrop completed their 10th straight
winning season, a season that saw
several key starters go down with injury
but still managed to gather momentum and
reach the playoffs after a regular
season ending win over rival Montrose.
The young Hornets will have gained a lot
of experience from this season and be
better for it in '09.
