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Holt was
unable to manage a first down after their first
possession. They tried to get RB Anthony Scott
established but much like Davison's O-Line, the
D-Line also off to a good start. To make
matters worse, the punt was blocked and the Cards
took over with great field position, short of their
own 40 yard line. After a few successful runs,
Cowan went to the air. With the Rams concerned
about how much real estate they were giving up on
the ground, they left a little exposure in the
secondary. Cowan and the Cards exposed that
for a 32 yard scoring strike to WR Michael Zeller on
a streak right down the middle of the field.
With 48
seconds to go in the opening quarter and not finding
much room on the ground, Holt QB Michael Hollern
went deep across the middle going for the home-run.
The deep ball was picked off by Jeremy Wilson
playing centerfield. Wilson returned the ball
30 yards to the Holt 49 and the Cards were in
business again. The Rams were able to stop
Davison for the first time of the game with the help
of a few penalties. On the first offensive
play in the 2nd quarter for Holt, they coughed up
the ball at their own 33 and Davison defensive
lineman Kevin Kleine made the recovery. The
Rams defense toughed it out again and forced a 4th
down after surrendering only a yard. In the
middle of no man's land, Davison Head Coach Jeff
Putnam decided to go for it. On the fourth and
nine Cowan looked for one man on the play, his
favorite target, Jeremy Wilson. Davison not
only went for the sticks, they went for it all and
struck gold as Cowan hit Wilson on the money for
another 32 yard scoring strike and a three touchdown
lead. Holt was shell-shocked. It was
early but it couldn't have gone much worse for the
visiting Rams. |
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On
Holt's next possession they were forced into
another punting situation and weren't having
much success moving the ball. On 4th and 2
from their own 47, they ran a fake punt.
The snap went directly to All-State LB Mitch
Zajac and he rumbled down to the Davison 31 for
22 yards. With a little bit of momentum on
their side, the Rams started to push the ball up
field with an effective running game. On
first and goal from the 9, Anthony Scott was
stopped just inches short of the goal line.
On 2nd and goal he was given the call again,
this time right up the gut for Holt's first
score. The extra point was missed but the
Rams got just what the doctor ordered. It
was the last score of the first half, a half the
Rams would have liked to forget. Down only
15 points, this game was far from over for the
Rams. If they could find a way to contain
the big play, and get a little more consistent
on offense they could get right back into this
thing.
On the backs of Joe Powers, Mitch Zajac and
Anthony Scott, the Rams started to push the ball
with success on the ground. The Rams moved
the ball all the way down to the Cardinal 26
setting up a third and short. Zajac went
around left tackle, broke and arm tackle and
broke it for 15 yards and a first down.
Like they had all night, the Rams shot
themselves in the foot. The 15 yard gain
and first down carry, were called back due to a
holding penalty. Holt eventually turned
the ball over on downs and failed to reach the
red zone again in the third quarter.
Mixing the run with the pass on Davison's next
possession, they were moving the ball quickly
towards paydirt. Cowan and Kirksey were
ripping off big gains all the way down to the
red-zone. Inside the 10, Davison made one
of their few blunders of the game. Kirksey
took the handoff and burst up the middle.
With no one in front of him, it was an almost
certain touchdown. Mitch Zajac had other
ideas however, latching on to Kirksey's right
arm and stripping the ball loose. The ball
went forward 4 yards and defensive back Cody
Nash-Kniffen fell on the ball in the endzone for
a touchback. The Rams moved it out to near
midfield with success on the ground again.
On third and three from the 48, the bad luck
struck again. They were flagged for an
illegal substitution and the 3rd and 3 became a
3rd and 8. After an incomplete pass the
Rams were forced to punt. Wilson handled
the punt and was hit immediately at the 22 for
no gain. It was a shot that sparked some
emotion on the Ram sidelines. The emotion
turned to despair on the very next play.
Wilson lined up as the single receiver on the
right side and ran a fly pattern down the
sideline. Cowan dropped back and threw it
as far as he could, hitting Wilson in perfect
stride. Wilson did the rest of the work,
racing 78 yards for eventual game winner and
heart breaking score.
The next Davison drive became the Timothy Olds
show. After making some great elusive
carries, getting the Cards down the Holt 20,
Olds took the handoff from Cowan, burst through
the middle and was actually grabbed by the
initial defensive line push. With only a
handful of jersey, Olds made sure that they
didn't hang on for long as he kept his legs
churning, finally breaking free and chugging 20
yards for the Card's final score with just over
10 minutes remaining in the game.
Holt went on to add two scores late in the game,
a 31 yard touchdown pass from Michael Hollern to
tight end Nate Norton and a 15 yard TD scamper
by RB Scott Crawford with two minutes left in
the game.
It wasn't a convincing score when all was said
and done, however it was a convincing effort on
both sides of the ball. For the most part,
Davison was able to contain the power Holt
running game and Hollern never had enough time
to throw. Davison on the other hand had
just as much success on the ground but were able
to break it wide open through the air attack,
especially on the Cowan-Wilson connection.
The 78 yarder with just seconds remaining in the
third really took the wind out of Holt but they
didn't' quit. Their two fourth quarter
scores prove that. The better team won
tonight but that is not to say that Holt could
have been better. The Rams were beaten by
a talented and extremely balanced Davison team,
the penalties and turnovers didn't help.
The great thing about high school football is
that a loss doesn't knock you out of title
contention. It takes more than three to do
that. Holt will be back and they will live
to fight another day, especially in this young
season. As for Davison, the season looks
more promising than ever but they must guard
against a letdown. The schedule doesn't
allow for any breaks, with Powers, Grand Blanc
and Haslett just a few teams out on the horizon.
Both teams hit the road next week with Davison
headed to Flushing and Holt headed back to
Lansing to square off against Everett.
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