Traverse City St. Francis outlasts Charlevoix in epic 41-40 overtime battle

Aug. 25—CHARLEVOIX — Reports of Traverse City St. Francis' demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The Gladiators won a wild 41-40 football game in overtime against Charlevoix, one in which every score either tied the game or changed the lead in Friday's nonconference football game at Kipke Field.

St. Francis graduated its entire starting offense and eight on defense from last year's Division 7 state finalist team.

Sensing blood in the water, teams lined up for a shot at St. Francis. Charlevoix got the first crack. The Rayders and Gladiators traded swings for 48 minutes, and that wasn't enough to decide a winner.

"We want to be back at states this year," TCSF running back and linebacker Charlie Olivier said. "A lot of people said this is our rebuild year. This is not a rebuild year. This is our year to shine, and we're going to go back to Ford Field this year. I have 100 percent faith in this team."

Eli Biggar made the first hit on Landon Swanson on Charlevoix's all-or-nothing overtime two-point conversion attempt, with safety Cam Sellers finishing up the play to seal the victory.

Swanson scored Charlevoix's OT touchdown from 2 yards out, and almost gave the Rayders the win in regulation.

Ben Matter's quarterback pressure forced a throw that Swanson deflected and then picked off himself, racing in for what looked like the game-winning score with 38 seconds remaining in regulation, but a block in the back penalty on the return took the TD off the board and St. Francis' defense kept the Rayders out of the end zone.

"It was a fun game to be a part of," Charlevoix head coach Don Jess said. "Certainly wanted it to go the other way, but I couldn't be happier with our kids' effort, attitude, all the things we preach."

Fullback Tommy Richardson finished off St. Francis' overtime possession with a 1-yard TD run, with sophomore Sam Wildfong kicking the extra point that would ultimately prove to be the difference.

Swanson ran nine times for 48 yards and two TDs, and also led the defense with 13 tackles and a pick.

St. Francis went up 34-28 on Cam Sellers' 9-yard TD run and Olivier's conversion run. Charlevoix had 3:08 left, and converted a 4th-and-22 with a Brady Jess 34-yard pass to Owen Waha, who ended up with three catches for 56 yards. Jess — who led the Rayders with 94 rushing yards on 12 carries — ended the drive with a 12-yard keeper, seeing a running lane on a pass play and taking off for the end zone.

"Just the resiliency they showed," St. Francis head coach Josh Sellers said. "We didn't know what we were going to have with this crew as it's assembled until tonight. To see them come back from kill shots, big plays that Charlevoix made."

St. Francis retook the lead 18-14 early in the third quarter on a 20-yard Olivier rushing TD on a drive in which fellow running back Harrison Shepherd left the game with a right ankle injury and didn't return. Sellers said Shepherd should be ready to play next week.

The Rayders start Northern Michigan Football Conference-Leaders Division play Thursday, hosting Oscoda. The Gladiators continue nonconference play Friday at Lawton, who the Glads beat 42-7 last year. TCSF plays four of its first five games on the road, while Charlevoix starts with four straight home contests and has six of nine regular-season games at Kipke this year.

Lawton didn't graduate hardly anyone, which means they'll vividly remember last year's thrashing.

It'll be the first time TCSF visits the Blue Devils, who beat Benton Harbor 51-20 to open the season.

"They should be in the conversation for Division 7 title contenders, for sure," Josh Sellers said. "Never been there, so it'll be interesting making that road trip and we'll see what happens."

Henry Herzog put Charlevoix back up 22-18 on a 43-yard TD run, with Jess running in the conversion. TCSF answered three plays later with an Olivier 54-yard TD run and Tyler Endres conversion pass to Cam Sellers.

The Rayders took the fourth quarter's opening possession and drove 74 yards in nine plays, closed out by a Hudson Vollmer 22-yard TD run to lead 28-26.

"I have to give it to them," Olivier said. "That's the greatest I've seen from Charlevoix. I've been playing them since Pop Warner, and they were always a grinding and heartful team, but we came out on top today."

Coach Sellers said he's heard the talk that the Gladiators would be down this season and an even bigger target for teams looking to even the score.

"Absolutely," Sellers said. "That's been our our talks with the kids. You have to understand we always get everyone's best shot and now it's even doubly so. This was a good shot in the arm for our kids tonight."

Waha picked off a pass with five seconds remaining in the first half to prevent the Gladiators from another shot at taking the lead.

Swanson's 8-yard touchdown run and Brady Jess' conversion run put the Rayders up 14 — 12 with 1:27 left in the first half.

Endres completed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Olivier, but Camden Carey and Emmitt Felter stopped the conversion run to limit TCSF to a 12-6 lead with 3:55 left before halftime.

"We got contributions from a lot of people tonight, and that's a sign of a good team," Jess said. "We're not relying on one person, and a lot of kids did a lot of good things tonight."

Harrison Shepherd threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Cam Sellers on a halfback pass for the game's first score with 4:58 left in the opening quarter. Logan Wadkins struck two plays later on a 72-yard TD run to knot it at 6-6.

"We played our hearts out today," Olivier said. "There was a lot of adversity in this. We can just build up from this. We have still one of the toughest schedules, and we're just going to build up from here."

Charlevoix is coming off of three consecutive eight-win seasons, but the Gladiators hold a 24-4-1 series advantage.

St. Francis won a 44-32 district championship showdown in their last meeting in 2020. They hadn't played in the regular season since 2013, the year before the Lake Michigan Conference became part of the Northern Michigan Football Conference.

Since 1990, the Rayders and Glads played every year through 2013, with Charlevoix winning only twice, posting back-to-back victories in 2000 and 2001 by 34-33 and 30-6 margins, respectively.

The spans before and after those consecutive wins saw the Rayders go 0-10 before and 0-12 afterward in regular-season matchups. They were held under 10 points in 10 of the 12 most recent regular-season meetings, including four shutouts. The combined score in those dozen games were 461-72, an average of 38.4-6.

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