Fowlerville - It could be dubbed as the Mud-Bowl.  Jubilant Gladiators ran and dove through the mud, enjoying their 24-10 first round playoff victory over East Lansing.  Fowlerville down by 1 in after the break, scored 15 unanswered points, coming on two touchdown passes from Jr. QB Josh Wedesky.  Wedesky had his hand in all three Gladiator TDs, rushing for 1 in the first half. 

The first half was a tale of two totally different quarters.  The Glads stormed out to a 9-0 first quarter lead after pinning the Trojans for a safety and Wedesky rushing for the game's first TD, 15 yards.  In the 2nd quarter it was East Lansing's turn in the scoring column.  With just under 8 minutes to go, Chris Bracken connected on a 22 yard field goal.  Trojan RB Isaac Harper added an 11 yard scoring run with just over two minutes to go before halftime.  It was a huge change in momentum going into the break.

In the 2nd half, the rain was coming down even harder and the conditions on the playing surface were getting atrocious.  Midfield and the sidelines turned into mud pits.  Ball security and field position would move to the forefront even more than usual because of the weather.  Both the Glads and Trojans weren't able to get much going offensively early on in the 3rd.  That changed more than halfway through the third as Fowlerville went to the air.  The Glads, primarily a rushing team made the most out of Wedesky's pass attempts.  The big one came on 3rd and 10 at the Trojan 35.  Wedesky dropped back rolled to his left under extreme pressure and found a wide open Joe Wheeker along the left sideline.  Wheeker hauled in the pass, broke a tackle, cut back against the grain towards the middle of the field and raced the rest of the way towards paydirt, putting Fowlerville back on top, for the 35 yard score.  Weskey hit FB Kyle Brown out of the backfield for the two pointer putting Fowlerville up 17-10. 

Even though it was only a 7 point lead, it would be a tough task for EL to nod it up, because of the conditions.  Their task got a little harder as they turned the ball over at their own 48 yard line on their next possession.   The Trojans reached deep into their guts and forced a 4th down at their own 40.  Feeling that their offensive line could get the job done, Fowlerville Head Coach made the decision to go for it.  RB Adam Powell got the call, fought ahead and got the two yards needed, but not by much.  East Lansing hit Powell short but he kept moving ahead reaching past the sticks.  Wedesky than kept the ball himself moving the ball down to the EL 25, setting up another first down.  Then East Lansing got the break that they needed.  Adam Powell burst through middle, was hit and tried to stretch the ball forward for extra yards, but it came loose and underneath the pile of players and mud, Trojan Nate Bean came up with the recovery.  Unfortunately the Trojans could do little with the football.  Facing third and two at their own 23, the Fowlerville defense stuffed the running play for no gain.  It went from bad to worse for East Lansing.  They punted the ball away but were flagged for illegal procedure.  The snap on the 2nd punt after the penalty was low and the kick never got off.  With 10 minutes to go in the game and the ball at the East Lasing 13, the Gladiators put it away.  Wheskey then found TE Joe Lane open on the ride sideline, Lane made the grab, cut inside and found paydirt for 6 more.  After a Cabe Miller extra point, the lead was 24-10, making it that much more difficult to mount a comeback for EL.

With just over five minutes remaining in the game, East Lansing mounted their final attempt at getting back in the game.  They were making good gains through the air.  The drive and East Lansing's season ended on the 20 yard line of Fowlerville.  Facing a third and long, replacement QB Andrew Jackson went deep to the right into traffic.  Both the receiver and the defender jumped up for the ball but it was Fowlerville DB Ryan Ross who came down with the football. 

In ugly conditions, the Gladiators did what they needed to do to get the job done.  They were effective on the ground but even more precise through the air.  On half of their 4 passes anyway.  Wedesky only completed two passes, however both for scores.  It was a big win for Class B Fowlerville over their Class A opponent East Lansing.  The road only gets tougher from here.  The Glads move on to the District finals to face Linden on the road.  Linden has one of the state's best offenses with a terrific passing game and dangerous QB, Dustin Mayner.  It will be a clash of styles in Linden next week.  Date and time will be decided early next week.

For East Lansing, the turn-around season ended sooner than what they would have liked, but it's a far cry from last season's 0-9 campaign.  The Trojans will only get better from here and having played in the post-season got much needed experience for a team loaded with players coming back for '07, including RB Isaac Harper and QB Cam Bruce.  EL along with Jackson's loss in the first round leaves only Holt left in the playoffs, representing the Capital Area I.  The Capital Area II was wiped out yesterday, with Ionia, Mason and St. Johns all falling.  Fowlerville's victory over East Lansing completed a sweep for the Capital Area III, with DeWitt and Haslett also racking up wins.