Week Eight Results - No Pain No Gain

Week Eight is done and over. There were some great games and surprises in the slate of games for last week. One of the great things about high school football, and really, football in general, is that any team can win any time they take the field. We have seen teams win in dominate fashion and other teams squeak out a last second win. Which ever way it happens, a win is a win. Now that win just brings them one step closer to the playoffs (or being eliminated from playoff contention). Let’s examine the Spartan Nation Week Eight Games of the Week.

West Coast

East Grand Rapids 27 Lowell 6

Everyone expected this game to be VERY close. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell East Grand Rapids to keep it close. It was the Lowell Red Arrows that got on the board first thanks to a nine yard run by quarterback Gabe Dean in the first quarter, but they didn’t score after that. Dean finished the night with eight completions on 13 attempts for 94 yards, but was intercepted four times. Five of those receptions were made by Derick Cornish who gained 60 yards. Even running back Austin Graham could only muster 52 yards on his 24 attempts. For the Pioneers of East Grand Rapids, Ryan Elble also completed eight of his 13 passes for 99 yards. Kirk Spencer ran 26 times for 71 yards and scored twice…including a 71 yard punt return. The defense for East Grand Rapids intercepted four balls and recovered three fumbles. Lowell’s defense held the Pioneers to 150 yards of total offense, bur the turnovers killed the Red Arrows.

Capital Area

Holt 34 Grand Ledge 27

Holt quarterback Jordan Beachnau put the team on his back and willed them to a win. He scored five touchdowns on the night, including a one yard run with less than a minute left in the game. Beachnau finished the night with 114 yards and three touchdowns while throwing for 246 and two more scores. Both of the receiving touchdowns were caught by Dominick Todd (80 and 87 yard receptions). Grand Ledge junior quarterback Dario Bongiorni had a great game as well. He ran for 115 yards and a touchdown while also throwing for 131 and two more scores. On that last drive, he really stood up. With only 40 seconds to play, he took off after not being able to locate a receiver and gained 46 yards. Then, with only 5.4 seconds left, he found himself in the exact same situation and had to run again, but was tackled on the seven yard line. Holt won the CAAC Blue title with the victory.

Mid Michigan

St. Charles 42 Ithaca 28

The sting from losing to Carrollton and not winning the TVC-West title last year was still fresh in the minds of many Bulldogs of St. Charles. This year, they wanted to make sure that they felt the thrill of victory when a conference title was on the line. So, Coach Brady Lake dialed up a game plan that consisted of one thing; running the ball. St. Charles ran 63 times for 493 yards and three players gained 100 yards. Tyler Nieman gained 145 and two scores on 11 runs, Tyler Larsen gained 104 and three scores on his 16 attempts, and Dugan Roosa gained 109 and a score on his 18 runs. Travis Crane nearly hit the 100 yard mark, finishing with 95 yards on 14 carries. Nieman also attempted one pass, which fell incomplete. Ithaca’s quarterback extraordinaire Alex Niznak completed 15 of his 26 passes for 207 yards, two scores, and three interceptions. When he ran the ball, which he did 15 times, he gained 105 yards and scored twice more. With the Ithaca loss, Carrollton, St. Charles, and Ithaca will all share the conference title.

North

Cadillac 31 Petoskey 28

It was a close game, but Cadillac had enough juice to pull out a win. The win gives the Vikings a chance to win the outright title for the first time since 2000. Gary Silvers ran 17 times for Cadillac and gained 169 yards. Tyler Ellsworth toted the ball 17 times and gained 55 yards. For Petoskey, Kelsey Heinrich scored three times; once on a 60 yard reverse, another time on a 49 yard scamper, and also from one yard out. The hero of the game was Mike Weeks. He kicked an 18 yard field goal in the closing minutes to break the tie. Petoskey attempted a 34 yard field goal with two minutes remaining, but missed. It was then that Cadillac took over, drove the ball, and kicked the game winning field goal.

Detroit

Melvindale 35 Wyandotte Roosevelt 0

It was supposed to be a game between the two top teams in the Downriver League, but one team was much stronger last Friday night. Melvindale’s first team offense racked up 35 points and 327 yards of offense in the first three quarters. Wayne Pettus was the main man for the Cardinals, racking up 110 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown, with one touchdown run being from 63 yards out. Quarterback D.J. Smith converted six of his ten passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. In the first half, the Melvindale defense held Wyandotte to 50 yards of offense and three first downs and 89 yards of total offense for the game. The defense was fast and physical, making it hard for Wyandotte to match up against them.