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Prep football roundup: Carlson, Airport, Flat Rock, Milan playoff bound

niles kruger and ryan loren, the monroe news
·7 min read

The results will not be final until the official state pairings are announced Sunday night, but it appears that Gibraltar Carlson, Airport, Flat Rock and Milan are headed to the state football playoffs along with Ida, Whiteford and St. Mary Catholic Central.

More: Whiteford completes its second straight 9-0 regular season

More: Ida edges Dundee, likely wrapping up berth in state playoffs

Here is a look at Friday's games:

Carlson 45, Lincoln Park 13

GIBRALTAR — Gibraltar Carlson didn’t want to share.

The Marauders, who wrapped up at least a share of the Downriver League championship last week, brought home an outright title with a 45-13 win over Lincoln Park.

Izaiah Wright
Izaiah Wright

“This is the first time in school history that we are outright league champions,” Carlson coach Jason Gendron said. “The message this week was ‘Finish the job.’ The kids came out fired up.”

Izaiah Wright continued his monster sophomore season with four touchdowns, giving him 26 for the season.

Wright got Carlson rolling with a pair of short touchdown runs, then Kyler Ostrowski kicked a 40-yard field goal and Joe Krolak threw a 7-yard TD pass to Ethan Smith for a 24-7 lead at halftime.

Brendan Stanley opened the second half by returning a kickoff for a touchdown, then Wright ran for two more TDs.

Carlson ends the regular season with an eight-game winning streak and an 8-1 record.

Airport 35, Dearborn Heights Crestwood 6

Cooper Nye
Cooper Nye

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights Crestwood still was harboring playoff hopes coming into the evening, but Airport was ready for the challenge.

“They played a playoff game tonight,” Airport coach Jim Duffy said. “It was a good win for us. Our kids were able to get the job done.”

Cooper Nye threw touchdown passes to Colin Nowak, Brett Moore and Nolan Zajac. Jack Mills ran for a pair of scores.

Airport (8-1) hopes it will have at least one home game when the playoff pairings are announced Sunday night.

Milan 49, Ann Arbor Skyline 19

MILAN — Milan snapped a four-game losing streak and most likely clinched a state-playoff berth.

The Big Reds wasted no time taking charge, scoring two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters.

William Gaskell ran for the first TD and threw a touchdown pass to Lukas Linzell in the second period. Linzell also had a TD run and Jaxen Wourman returned a punt for a score.

It was 36-7 at halftime.

Gaskell returned a fumble recovery for another score in the third period and Jackson Raasch ran 12 yards for a score in the third quarter.

Milan (4-5) hit a season high for points in a game.

Flat Rock 61, Clarenceville 26

FLAT ROCK — Flat Rock snapped its two-game losing streak with a convincing win over a team that arrived with a winning record.

The Rams led 33-14 at the half and 53-20 after three quarters.

Graham Junge completed 20-of-27 passes for 276 yards 2 touchdowns and a trio of 2-point conversions. Alex Gillum (7 yards) and Jaycob Pieprzyk (72) caught the TD passes.

Brian Books ran for 176 yards and 4 scores on just 11 carries.

Ben Scully led the defense with 7 tackles and Teigan Donovan added 6 stops.

Flat Rock takes a 6-3 record into the state playoffs.

Malachi Pribyl is congratulated by his Jefferson teammates after scoring one of his three touchdowns during a 40-36 win over Melvindale Friday night.
Malachi Pribyl is congratulated by his Jefferson teammates after scoring one of his three touchdowns during a 40-36 win over Melvindale Friday night.

Jefferson 40, Melvindale 36

MELVINDALE — Jefferson closed a 2-7 first year under coach Rob Beaudrie with a wild win.

The Bears led 26-14 with 4:15 left in the game, but both teams scored twice after that.

“I am so happy for the guys, especially the seniors,” Beaudrie said. “I am super excited. I kept saying all year how young we are. Tonight, we could have laid down after they came back, but we didn’t.”

Luke Beaudrie and Malachi Pribyl scored three touchdowns each for the Bears.

Pribyl also had an interception inside the 5-yard line to kill a Melvindale drive and the defense came up within a goal-line stand at the 2.

Jefferson's defense makes a stand during a 40-36 win over Melvindale Friday night.
Jefferson's defense makes a stand during a 40-36 win over Melvindale Friday night.

Huron 29, Detroit Henry Ford 8

DETROIT — New Boston Huron raced out to a 15-0 lead and pulled away with two more scores in the second half.

Huron started nine underclassmen on defense but did not allow a single point. Henry Ford's only score of the game came on a pick-six late in the second quarter.

"It was impressive," Huron coach Tom Hoover said of his team's defensive performance. "(Henry Ford) has some athletic, talented, fast guys. Big-play guys."

The win was the third in a row for the Chiefs and fourth in the past five weeks. Huron finishes the season 5-4 and could be battling for one of the final playoff spots in Division 4.

"We're just waiting to hear," Hoover said. "We started coming together here late in the year. We're happy with the progress. We'd like to have some of our early mistakes back, but that's the way it went."

Riverview 27, Monroe 14

MONROE — Monroe closed out the first season under coach Kyle Reed with a fifth-straight loss after winning three of the first four games.

The Trojans faced a stiff test from co-Huron League champion Riverview in the regular season finale.

The Pirates took control of the game early, leading 21-7 at halftime. Monroe made adjustments at halftime and outscored Riverview 7-6 in the second half.

"We just kept on battling," Reed said. "We made a few adjustments defensively to try to counter their running game."

Deshun Richardson scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter and Aiden Newton added a 1-yard quarterback sneak in the fourth.

Newton finished 5-for-13 passing for 96 yards. Richardson led Monroe on the ground with 14 carries for 43 yards.

Monroe finished the season 3-6.

"The first thing I told them (at the end of the game) is that I love them," Reed said. "They've been a great group. ... They never showed any quit. I told them to take those lessons and carry it on in life.

"Even though the season didn't go the way we want, I would love to coach these kids and this team again."

Bedford 28, Toledo St. Francis 11

TEMPERANCE — Bedford scored four touchdowns in the first half and rolled to its third win in the past four games.

"The growth they showed over the last several weeks was great. They really turned a corner," Bedford coach John Phillips said. "... I watched a lot of young men grow into some really good football players. There's a lot of promise."

Brandon Rozek had touchdown runs of 8 and 1 yards and Hunter Poignon added rushing scores of 2 and 35 yards to give the Mules a 28-3 halftime lead.

Poignon finished with 129 yards rushing on 21 carries and Rozek added 22 carries for 108 yards. Lucas Gerber caught two passes for 50 yards.

Vincent McGranahan paced the defense with five tackles and a sack.

Bedford finishes the regular season 4-5 and likely will finish on the bubble for a playoff spot in Division 2.

"The guys peaked late coming off what they dealt with," said Phillips, who pointed to early-season injuries to key starters at quarterback, middle linebacker and center. "There's a lot to be proud of. We want to get better, we want to be in the playoffs, but with the way the season started, there was a lot of growth."

Sand Creek 36, Erie Mason 14

SAND CREEK – Erie Mason was within 16-14 late in the first half, but Sand Creek closed with 20 unanswered points to pull away.

Vaughn Brown threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Korbin Herrera and ran 2 yards for a score. He also hooked up with Logan Goodin for a 2-point conversion pass.

The Eagles finished a 3-6 season with its second straight loss. Their string of three straight playoff seasons likely comes to an end.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Prep Football: Carlson, Airport, Flat Rock, Milan playoff bound