Lenawee Christian football wins third title in four years
MARQUETTE – Days after losing to Martin in last year’s MHSAA 8-Player Division 1 regional final, the Lenawee Christian football upperclassmen got back to work immediately.
They were hungry to get to the Superior Dome and finish the job.
All the hard work paid off on Saturday for the Cougars, who used a high-powered passing attack to overwhelm Marion in a 36-18 victory in an 8-Player Division 2 championship clash in Marquette.
“This group of seniors – they wanted one of their own,” LCS coach Bill Wilharms said. “They wanted their own legacy because they were in with the first two (championship teams). I’m not joking when I say the Monday after we got beat by Martin, they were all in the weight room. They were busting their butts all the way through, and it is so awesome to see it to come to fruition.”
Sparking the Cougars (13-0) to a third state title in four seasons was senior quarterback Sam Lutz, who finished 20-for-23 passing for 350 yards and three touchdowns. All three of those tosses went to fellow senior Easton Boggs, who hauled in touchdowns of 12, 15 and 57 yards. Boggs caught nine passes and finished with 210 yards for the contest.
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“Easton’s been a force for us from seventh and eighth grade, and Sammy (Lutz) came as a ninth grader,” Wilharms said. “Sammy just spreads the wealth. He does a great job, and I hope he’s in consideration for the 8-player player of the year, because I definitely think he’s deserving of it.”
After surrendering a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to Marion’s Gavin Prielipp on the opening play of the game, LCS erupted with 36 unanswered points. Lutz also added two touchdown runs in the game for the Cougars, who led 14-6 after one and 29-6 at halftime. Max Stamats also made a field goal late in the half to push LCS’s lead to 29-6.
“We talk about adversity all the time and honestly, it’s like when somebody goes down, it’s next man up,” Wilharms said. “We knew they were a heckuva football team. We knew there were going to be some bumps and stuff along the way. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was going to be that early, but it’s like, hey, it puts our offense on the field. The defense just plays awesome. Coach (Casey) Opsal fixed the special teams, and that worked out well, and we just know we want to get the ball and score.
“We want to spin it and have fun, and that’s what we tried to do.”
Marion (11-1) received a 30-yard touchdown pass from Collin McCrimmon to James Williams and a three-yard touchdown run from Cole Meyer in the fourth quarter, but LCS managed to control the last few minutes and seal the win.
LCS finished with 405 total yards in the game. Defensively, Lutz recorded eight tackles, and Jesse Miller intercepted a pass.
Saturday marked the first Division 2 title win for LCS, which previously won Division 1 titles in 2020 and 2021 with consecutive victories over Suttons Bay.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Lenawee Christian tops Marion to win third MHSAA 8-man football title
