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On
DeWitt's next possession Blankenship did a lot
of damage with a 16 yard run from Haslett's 41
down to the Viking 25. This occurred after
another big VanDreumel to Horn pass hookup.
Faced with yet another 4th down, the Panthers
didn't hesitate going for it again, deep in
Viking territory. On fourth and 1,
VanDreumel took it off right guard for three
yards and a huge first down. As they had
all night, the Panthers mixed it up and went
back to the air. WR Don Tait ran a skinny
post right up the middle of the field almost
uncovered. VanDreumel hit him in stride
for another 6. It was a heartbreaker.
With just under two minutes remaining before the
break, DeWitt seized all of the momentum but it
was still a far cry from being over, just 14 -
3.
With
the beginning of the 2nd half the Vikings had a
big hill to climb going on defense first.
The first half couldn't have gone much worse for
Haslett being out gained by 200 yards and
managing just 3 first downs compared to DeWitt's
13. In order to gain any momentum, they
could not allow a score from DeWitt to open the
half. DeWitt didn't oblige. The
biggest problem for Haslett, is that they were
unable to get any pressure on the QB. The
2nd half started just like the 1st with
VanDreumel getting all day to toss the ball
around. DeWitt however passed the ball
only when they needed too. They shifted to
a run oriented offense of their first drive of
half No. 2. They played a little power
football moving the ball with great success.
Faced with a 3rd and 3, VanDreumel ran the draw
for 16 yards and a first and goal right on the
10. RB Zach Blankenship took it for the
next 7 yards setting up a 2nd and goal from the
3. Blankenship was rewarded for his hard
running with the next carry and just punched it
in right up the gut for the first rushing TD of
the game and a 21 - 3 lead after Jon Tait's
third XP.
Haslett just couldn't muster anything on offense
and the further they fell behind the more they
had to step out of their normal offense to try
to spread things out. The Vikings run a
lot of two and three back sets with precision
fakes and ball handling. An offense like
that is built around ball control and effective
blocking. Down by three scores, they had
to find a way to get back into it. It went
from bad to worse for Haslett as they went three
and out on their next possession. It
didn't take long for DeWitt to make them pay.
After controlling the ball on the ground once
again, VanDreumel took the draw again right up
the middle outracing everyone to paydirt and a
30 yard score.
Just three minutes later, the Panthers struck
again after an ineffective offensive series by
Haslett. On 2nd down from the Haslett 35,
VanDreumel went deep to Tait, hitting him in
stride as he had all game, this time for a 35
yard scoring strike and a 35 - 3 lead. It
seemed like yesterday when Haslett had the 3 - 0
lead. 35 unanswered points later, there
was little doubt left in this one, with just
seconds remaining in quarter number 3. Not
so fast though, as Haslett fought back with
intensity and a running game not seen for much
of the game. With just over 10 minutes
remaining in the game, Haslett had a decent
drive going when they faced a fourth and 3 at
the DeWitt 38. RB Jermaine Roberson got
the call, broke a few tackles, made a few
defenders miss near the sideline and raced the
rest of the way for Haslett's first TD.
Haslett then executed a perfect onside kick,
with Magnusson kicking the ball right in front
of him where the Vikings encircled the ball and
then pounced on it after it had gone the 10
yards. The Vikings had their best passing
play of the evening, as QB Ryan McGreal-Miller
was flushed out of the pocket, then stepped up
and heaved the ball to an open Micah Magnusson
near the left sideline. Magnusson caught
the ball at the DeWitt 30, faked like he was
going out of bounds, cut back in and went for 15
more yards, for a 39 yard gain in all. The
very next play, Roberson rumbled again, this
time for a 15 yard score, cutting the lead to 18
with over 8 minutes still remaining.
With the 'Hands' team in for DeWitt, the Vikings
went for the pooch kickoff, trying to get it
right over their heads and past the first line,
hoping they could get to it before DeWitt did.
Brian Richey had other ideas as he dropped back
and caught the ball on a line and took it the
other way, maintaining possession for the
Panthers. The Haslett D answered the call
and got the ball back with just over 4 minutes
remaining. They had to go to the air with
the lack of time remaining. It wasn't
their type of game and it showed. The
Vikings were unable to get into scoring range
and turned the ball over on downs. With
two minutes and change remaining, Coach
Zimmerman used one of his timeouts to get the
reserves some valuable action. They didn't
disappoint as they drove the ball down to the
goaline, where RB Michael Thompson punched it in
from 6 yards out, ending the scoring and for all
intensive purposes ending the game with just 11
ticks remaining.
It was a dominating effort for a team hitting on
all cylinders. DeWitt has the look of a
title contender just four weeks into the season.
It's a long season however. They need to
stay healthy and they cannot become complacent,
something I doubt this team will have an issue
with. Haslett on the other hand must
regroup. They faced a better team on this
night and have nothing to be ashamed of.
They are still in the hunt for the title with
just one loss in conference play and there is
still bigger fish to fry with the playoffs
coming in just 5 weeks. The best thing to
do is to improve upon where they fell short in
this game and prepare for Lakewood. They
still have some monsters on the schedule with
Fowlerville traveling to Haslett in two weeks
and Davison stopping by in week 8. DeWitt
heads to the CAACIII's pleasant surprise Lansing
C.C. next week. DeWitt also has some
dandies on the schedule with Country Day and St.
Johns lurking later on in the season. The
rivalry also may not be finished this year, as
they could meet each other come late October in
the post-season. It's extremely hard to
beat anyone twice in a season, I guess we will
have to wait and see. |
