Monday, November 02. 2009
News and views from the playoffs...
A recap of this weekend's area action...
News: For the second time this season, Reese comes away with a win over Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port, this time 29-7 in the opening round of the Division 6 playoffs.
Views: What's so surprising about this game — and the Oct. 9 meeting between the teams, too — is the way Reese's defense basically manhandled EPBP's offense.
In eight quarters, the Lakers managed just one offensive touchdown against the Rockets. Throw out the two Reese games, and this is an offense which averaged 34.6 points. The Lakers averaged 6.5 against the Rockets.
Either I overestimated the EPBP offense, or underestimated the Reese defense.
Regardless, the Rockets dominated both games, especially in the second half.
Reese turned a 12-7 halftime lead in the first meeting into a 30-7 shelling.
Friday night, the Rockets led just 14-6 at the half before taking advantage of field position and three Laker turnovers en route to a 22-point win.
Both games showed off the Rockets’ speed and athletic ability. I don't think anyone will argue that Reese has a little bit more than the Lakers in those two areas.
And I have to admit, a sophomore who was the starting tailback on the junior varsity team at the beginning of the year did an admirable job for the Rockets in the slop at quarterback.
Jimmy Hahn threw a touchdown pass in the second quarter, and then “managed” the game in the second half for the Rockets.
Meanwhile, the Lakers didn't seem as bothered by the mud as much as the last time, but they still had costly mistakes and miscues.
With that said, this group of Laker seniors can hang their hats on the fact they captured a pair of Greater Thumb West championships, racking up a 13-7 record along the way the last two seasons.
Unfortunately, they just didn't have much success in the playoffs.
News: Ubly has an easy time with Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest, rolling to a 52-0 victory in the opening round of the Division 7 playoffs.
Views: Did anyone NOT see this coming?
I doubt it.
The Bearcats chalked up 541 yards rushing while limiting the Crusaders to just 39 — yes, 39 — total yards.
Now, the 10-0 Bearcats host 10-0 Genesee this Friday for the district championship.
The Wolves advanced with a 43-8 pounding of Brown City on Saturday.
Don't be surprised to see Genesee give Ubly a game. Yes, the Wolves haven't been much of a problem for the Bearcats in their two previous playoff meetings in 2006 and 2008, but this might be a different Genesee squad.
Genesee quarterback Garret Cook looks like the real deal. He rushed for 112 yards and three TDs against Brown City. He also threw for 173 yards, and added an 85-yard kick return for a score.
Ubly's defense will get a much stiffer test against the Wolves.
I still see the Bearcats being more physical than Genesee and coming away with the district championship, but it's not going to be a blowout like it was against Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest.
News: Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes boots a 20-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to grab a thrilling 30-28 win over Deckerville in the opening round of the Division 8 playoffs.
Views: This one was worth the two-hour drive to Waterford.
This game was sort of a microcosm of Deckerville's season. The Eagles were close, but couldn't make a big play when they needed it.
Two plays, actually, defined that.
The first came at the end of the second quarter when Deckerville faced fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line with just a few seconds to play. Quarterback Cody Hoff's pass was batted in the air and fell incomplete, just out of the reach of receiver Josh Fritch's hands.
Then, late in the game, with WLOL backed up and facing third-and-long, Laker quarterback Mike Sullivan scrambled around and floated a pass to a streaking Anthony Caiozzo, who hauled it in and raced down to the 3-yard line.
After a spike to stop the clock, freshman kicker Jake Doetsch's field goal squeezed through the left upright.
The Lakers started celebrating.
The Eagles were consoled.
I tip my hat to the Eagles, though. They weathered a long bus ride and a shaky start and played one of their better games of the season.
They came up just one play short.
News: OK, I would be remiss if a didn't mention that the administrators, Steve Budzynski and Don Schelke, finally got into the pockets — DEEP into the pockets — of myself and Jerry Kranz on Sunday morning at Verona Hills Golf Club.
Views: It hurt. Believe me, it hurt.
Now, they have the entire winter to gloat.
And that's going to hurt most of all.
Enjoy it now, boys. Because we're coming out blazing next spring!
Here are some photos from the WLOL vs. Deckerville game...
News: For the second time this season, Reese comes away with a win over Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port, this time 29-7 in the opening round of the Division 6 playoffs.
Views: What's so surprising about this game — and the Oct. 9 meeting between the teams, too — is the way Reese's defense basically manhandled EPBP's offense.
In eight quarters, the Lakers managed just one offensive touchdown against the Rockets. Throw out the two Reese games, and this is an offense which averaged 34.6 points. The Lakers averaged 6.5 against the Rockets.
Either I overestimated the EPBP offense, or underestimated the Reese defense.
Regardless, the Rockets dominated both games, especially in the second half.
Reese turned a 12-7 halftime lead in the first meeting into a 30-7 shelling.
Friday night, the Rockets led just 14-6 at the half before taking advantage of field position and three Laker turnovers en route to a 22-point win.
Both games showed off the Rockets’ speed and athletic ability. I don't think anyone will argue that Reese has a little bit more than the Lakers in those two areas.
And I have to admit, a sophomore who was the starting tailback on the junior varsity team at the beginning of the year did an admirable job for the Rockets in the slop at quarterback.
Jimmy Hahn threw a touchdown pass in the second quarter, and then “managed” the game in the second half for the Rockets.
Meanwhile, the Lakers didn't seem as bothered by the mud as much as the last time, but they still had costly mistakes and miscues.
With that said, this group of Laker seniors can hang their hats on the fact they captured a pair of Greater Thumb West championships, racking up a 13-7 record along the way the last two seasons.
Unfortunately, they just didn't have much success in the playoffs.
News: Ubly has an easy time with Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest, rolling to a 52-0 victory in the opening round of the Division 7 playoffs.
Views: Did anyone NOT see this coming?
I doubt it.
The Bearcats chalked up 541 yards rushing while limiting the Crusaders to just 39 — yes, 39 — total yards.
Now, the 10-0 Bearcats host 10-0 Genesee this Friday for the district championship.
The Wolves advanced with a 43-8 pounding of Brown City on Saturday.
Don't be surprised to see Genesee give Ubly a game. Yes, the Wolves haven't been much of a problem for the Bearcats in their two previous playoff meetings in 2006 and 2008, but this might be a different Genesee squad.
Genesee quarterback Garret Cook looks like the real deal. He rushed for 112 yards and three TDs against Brown City. He also threw for 173 yards, and added an 85-yard kick return for a score.
Ubly's defense will get a much stiffer test against the Wolves.
I still see the Bearcats being more physical than Genesee and coming away with the district championship, but it's not going to be a blowout like it was against Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest.
News: Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes boots a 20-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to grab a thrilling 30-28 win over Deckerville in the opening round of the Division 8 playoffs.
Views: This one was worth the two-hour drive to Waterford.
This game was sort of a microcosm of Deckerville's season. The Eagles were close, but couldn't make a big play when they needed it.
Two plays, actually, defined that.
The first came at the end of the second quarter when Deckerville faced fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line with just a few seconds to play. Quarterback Cody Hoff's pass was batted in the air and fell incomplete, just out of the reach of receiver Josh Fritch's hands.
Then, late in the game, with WLOL backed up and facing third-and-long, Laker quarterback Mike Sullivan scrambled around and floated a pass to a streaking Anthony Caiozzo, who hauled it in and raced down to the 3-yard line.
After a spike to stop the clock, freshman kicker Jake Doetsch's field goal squeezed through the left upright.
The Lakers started celebrating.
The Eagles were consoled.
I tip my hat to the Eagles, though. They weathered a long bus ride and a shaky start and played one of their better games of the season.
They came up just one play short.
News: OK, I would be remiss if a didn't mention that the administrators, Steve Budzynski and Don Schelke, finally got into the pockets — DEEP into the pockets — of myself and Jerry Kranz on Sunday morning at Verona Hills Golf Club.
Views: It hurt. Believe me, it hurt.
Now, they have the entire winter to gloat.
And that's going to hurt most of all.
Enjoy it now, boys. Because we're coming out blazing next spring!
Here are some photos from the WLOL vs. Deckerville game...
