High School Football: Lenawee Christian advances to Division 2 8-Player state finals
ADRIAN — It's now been four years of 8-man football for Lenawee Christian and after Saturday's 42-14 win against Deckerville, it'll be three trips to the state championship game for the Cougars.
LCS (12-0) dominated the final two-and-a-half quarters against the Eagles in the MHSAA Division 2 8-Player semifinal, scoring 42 unanswered points.
"It's been a journey all season long," said coach Bill Wilharms. "These kids wanted to have their own legacy, and now they're one game away from doing what they set out to do. It's the opportunity they've given themselves."
Deckerville (9-3) came out swinging, driving down for a touchdown on its opening drive, milking 6:46 off the clock and capping the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run by Hunter Garza and then connecting with Chayse Lamont for the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0.
After both teams turned the ball over on downs, the Cougars were forced to punt on their second drive. It turned almost disastrous as Easton Boggs fumbled the snap, but he picked it up and ended up running for the first down.
Moments later, it was Boggs on the receiving end of a 17-yard touchdown pass from Sam Lutz to make it 8-6 with 10:03 in the second quarter, but it was only the beginning as it was the first of six touchdowns for LCS as it raced ahead for the victory.
"There was a little bit of fear," Lutz said. "But I was having fun. I wasn't super nervous, we had to keep playing our game."
Lutz connected with a wide-open Blake Drogowski on a 68-yard touchdown pass and then hit him again for the 2-point conversion to make it 14-8 with 2:49 left in the second. Then Lutz had a 9-yard touchdown to make it 21-8 at the half and a 25-yard touchdown to open the second half to make it 28-8.
Lutz added one more touchdown pass to Boggs for 10 yards and then a 5-yard run to complete the scoring.
"They were really bringing the pressure," Wilharms said. "We changed some routes around and saw where we could catch them. It's making plays. You can draw stuff up, but (Lutz) getting out of things the way he does and keeping his head down and finding the open receivers and the receivers working themselves."
Coming into the game, the Cougars had more on their minds than football. The captains carried out a No. 34 jersey with them for the coin toss. It was the number Nathan Bowen wore before dying of a brain tumor during the 2021 season.
"They've rallied around (Bowen) this year," Wilharms said. "We've imagined Nate being out here with us and his spirit out here with us."
Bowen was a part of this now senior class and continues to be two years after his death.
"That's a lot bigger than football," Lutz said. "He's one of our brothers, and he's a big motivation on the way we play. He's on our minds a lot of the time."
Bowen's No. 34 will surely be at midfield one more time when LCS goes for a third title in four years at 2 p.m. Saturday against Marion at the Superior Dome on the campus of Northern Michigan University in Marquette.
"Marion is ranked No. 2," Wilharms said. "They are a talented team and well-deserving of being up at the dome. It's going to be fun to get film on them see what we need to do to execute."
Jackson Lumen Christi 21, Clinton 14
JACKSON — In a game fit for Ford Field, the Clinton football team had its season come to an end Friday in the Division 7 regional final to defending champions and top-ranked Jackson Lumen Christi.
The fifth-ranked Redwolves (10-2) went toe-to-to with the Titans, leading at the half and having a shot late after Lumen Christi took a two-score lead in the fourth quarter.
"This probably was a state championship game," coach Casey Randolph said. "No disrespect to any team, because there are some great teams still playing, but this probably was it."
Clinton moved the ball across the 50 on its first drive and went for a fourth-and-2 from the Titans' 41-yard line but turned it over on downs. The Redwolves' defense forced Lumen Christi to punt on its first drive and got back on the move.
Clinton's offense did what it does best early, milking the clock with the Power-T, run heavy attack.
The Redwolves struck first with a 1-yard touchdown run from Bryce Randolph with 9:16 in the second quarter before Nik Shadley added a 2-point conversion run.
The Titans (11-1) answered quickly with a 54-yard touchdown run for Kadale Williams on the first play from scrimmage to make it 8-7 with 8:56 to go in the first half, and the score held to halftime.
Clinton had a chance to pull further ahead after recovering a fumbled punt return inside Lumen's own 30-yard line but turned it over on downs.
"We showed we weren't afraid of anybody," coach Randolph said. "We came here to play. You've got to beat the best to be the best, and Lumen has proven they are one of the best, and we have to get through that. Our kids came ready to play."
The Titans took the lead with on a 16-yard run from Gabe King to go up 14-8 with 5:52 in the third quarter. It was the opening drive of the second half in which Lumen Christi converted on 3rd-and-11 from midfield and then on a 4th-and-1 from the Clinton 19-yard line.
Clinton drove the ball down to the Titans' 23-yard line to end the third, but trouble began to start the fourth when the Redwolves were called for a hold and then fumbled the ball away. Lumen Christi drove down the field and scored on a 3-yard run to go up 21-8 with 5:14 to go.
Clinton had one more answer, driving down the field with the passing game and finished the scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown burst from Cole Breitenwischer set up by an incredible fourth-and-13 reception by Shadley as he caught the ball while sitting on the 1-yard line after it was deflected into his hands.
"All glory to God for that because I don't know how I did it," Shadley said. "The ball just popped in my hands. Can't thank no one but God for that."
The miracles ended there for the Redwolves as the Titans recovered the onside kick and later converted on a third-and-1 to seal the deal.
"That showed what kind of team we are," coach Randolph said. "The kind of heart we have and what kind of tough kids we have."
Clinton will graduate 15 seniors, including Shadley, Breitenwischer, Bryce Rosacrans, Wyatt Hicks and Jack Gilroy to name a few.
"I've been playing with them since I transferred here as a little kid," Andy Fair said. "Playing with them in every sport, especially my cousin (Shadley). It hurts."
While the Redwolves are losing many key contributors, Clinton does have a lot returning, including Fair at quarterback, Randolph, Mason Brodie, Jake Felts and Brenden Benschoter.
"We're going to give it our all," Fair said. "We have underclassmen up here watching us, and we all know what this feels like, and I don't think any of us want this feeling again."
BOX SCORES
CLINTON 0 8 0 6 = 14
LUMEN CHRISTI 0 7 7 7 = 21
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
C – Bryce Randolph 1 run (Nik Shadley run)
L – Kadale Williams 54 run (Andrew Salazar kick)
Third Quarter
L – Gabe King 16 run (Salazar kick)
Fourth Quarter
L – Isaac Rehberg 3 run (Salazar kick)
C – Cole Breitenwischer 1 run (conversion failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Clinton: Nik Shadley 12-80, Bryce Randolph 9-36, Jacob Felts 10-35, Cole Breitenwischer 6-20, Andy Fair 3-6. Totals 40-177. Lumen Christi: Kadale Williams 19-139, Gabe King 6-29, Isaac Rehberg 9-27. Totals 34-195.
PASSING – Clinton: Andy Fair 7-11-0 62 yards. Lumen Christi: Timmy Crowley 1-3-0 17 yards.
RECEIVING – Clinton: Jacob Felts 3-24, Nik Shadley 1-23, Mason Brodie 3-15. Lumen Christi: Gabe King 1-17.
DECKERVILLE 8 0 0 6 = 14
LENAWEE CHRISTIAN 0 21 14 7 = 42
First Quarter
D - Hunter Garza 15yd TD run. (Chayse Lamont catch)
Second Quarter
L - Easton Boggs 17yd TD pass from Sam Lutz (2pt failed)
L - Blake Drogowski 68yd TD pass from Lutz (Drogowki catch)
L - Lutz 9yd TD run (Eli Brainard kick)
Third Quarter
L - Lutz 25yd TD run (Max Stamats kick)
L - Boggs 10yd TD pass from Lutz (Brainard kick)
Fourth Quarter
L - Lutz 5yd TD run (Stamats kick)
D - David Shanks 11yd TD pass from Garza (2pt failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – LCS: S. Lutz 21-105, Drogowski 6-27, Miller 3-11, Boggs 1-9, Towler 2-6, E. Lutz 1-3, Powers 1-3. Totals 35-164. Deckerville: Ball 30-141, Garza 12-70, Martin 1-11, Merriman 1-1, Lamont 1-0. Totals 45-223
PASSING – LCS: S. Lutz 16-21-0 266. Deckerville: Garza 11-22-0 95.
RECEIVING – LCS: Boggs 7-106, Drogowski 3-85, Towler 3-43, Miller 2-27, E. Lutz 1-5. Deckerville: Martin 5-60, D. Shanks 2-24, Merriman 3-8, L. Shanks 1-3.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Clinton, Lenawee Christian football looks to advance in MHSAA playoffs
