Hillsdale seniors honor fallen former teammate with win; Two teams earn playoff spots
HILLSDALE COUNTY — Week 9 of the high school football season wrapped up the season for most of the local area varsity teams. Only two Hillsdale County teams emerged victorious on Friday night.
Week 9 Homecpage: Hillsdale County Prep Football Live Scoreboard and Playoff Points Update
Visit our Week 9 homepage for additional coverage this weekend, including playoff updates and our feature story from the Week 9 Game of the Week at Hillsdale High School. Take a look below at some of the highlight moments from each season finale matchup involving local prep football teams.
Hillsdale 48, Onsted 42
HILLSDALE — An emotional night for the Hillsdale football community saw fans, coaches, cheerleaders, band members and players rally together as the Hornets earned a Week 9 victory on Senior Night over the Onsted Wildcats.
The Hornet football players honored former teammate and HHS '23 graduate Clayton Bowditch. Bowditch died Thursday, Oct. 19 in a traffic crash. The team carried his jersey onto the field before the start of the game and over to the Hornet sideline, where it would be with the team for the entirety of the home finale.
The showdown between the Wildcats and Hornets saw Hillsdale control the lead for the entire game, but a resurgent Wildcat team made things interesting in the final stretch of the game.
After an onside kick recovery, the Wildcats had less than a minute left to try and strike for a game-tying touchdown. The final Hail Mary pass was knocked down by Hornet junior Jace Lennox.
Hillsdale had over 500 yards of offense on the night. Senior Stephen Petersen had 176 rushing yards on 16 carries and five touchdowns. Defensively, he led the team with 18 total tackles. Lennox had 119 rushing yards on 16 carries and one touchdown. Senior Declan Flannery scored a rushing touchdown.
A feature story of Friday night's events in Hillsdale will include quotes from coaches and players, as well as full video highlights of game action.
Camden-Frontier 56, Lakeside Danbury (OH) 0
CAMDEN — Camden-Frontier and coach Rob Wickham secured potential playoff spot No. 16 for the 8-player D2 tournament after a 56-0 lopsided victory on Friday night.
The final numbers will be confirmed after Saturday games have been completed, but it looks like Camden-Frontier will edge out every team on the outside looking in for the final playoff spot with their 28.584 playoff points.
Senior Worm Wickham had an exceptional night for Camden-Frontier. The son of head coach Rob Wickham had seven receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns. He broke the career receptions record for Camden-Frontier High School with 86.
The team had a total of 489 offensive yards. Brayden Miller led the defense with 11.5 tackles and snuck in for four 2-point conversions.
More stats from this matchup will be included in our playoff breakdown.
Climax-Scotts 38, Pittsford 30
PITTSFORD — This Week 9 slugfest between 8-player D2 No. 3 Climax-Scotts and No. 10 Pittsford was everything you'd expect a showdown between two playoff bound teams to be.
The back-and-forth battle saw Pittsford hold a 24-16 halftime lead, but the Panthers came roaring back with 22 second-half points to earn the 38-30 final at Pittsford.
The game was tied at 30-all and Climax-Scotts struck paydirt on a 38-yard pass. Both teams had nearly equal stats on offense. Pittsford senior quarterback Gavyn Carden went 14 for 17 for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He would run for 127 yards and a touchdown.
Senior Bryce Williams had nine receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Jake Drawe led the Wildcats with 10 total tackles. He also had a 29-yard touchdown reception. Legend Gore had eight tackles and scored two rushing touchdowns.
Despite back-to-back losses to the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in 8-player D2, the Wildcats look to be battle tested and ready for the playoffs. More stats and a breakdown of their playoff berth will be included in our postseason breakdown after Selection Sunday.
Bellevue 68, Litchfield 0
BELLEVUE — After losing senior quarterback Tyler Bills for the rest of the season, it was going to be a tough uphill battle for the Terriers and coach Michael Langhann to secure a second consecutive winning season. The Terriers needed to go to Bellevue in order to secure that winning season.
The Bellevue Bronco defense silenced the Terrier offense in a shutout victory. Bellevue's 6-3 overall record does not look to be strong enough to earn them a spot in the 8-player D1 postseason tournament.
"It wasn't the outcome we were hoping for," said coach Langhann. "I'm very proud of how these seniors have helped turn this program around and the progress we have made."
This senior class of Terriers have compiled the most wins over a two-year stretch since the early 1990's for the program. The Terriers end the year with a 4-5 overall record. They went 6-2 last year for their first winning season since 2011.
Senior Miguel Pedroza had 10.5 tackles. Senior Brandon Campbell had seven tackles. Senior Junior Alvarez had 6.5 tackles. Brayden Bradley had 5.5 tackles.
Michigan Center 35, Jonesville 20
MICHIGAN CENTER — The Jonesville varsity football team traveled to Michigan Center with the hopes of potentially sneaking their way into the Division 7 postseason. They needed a win to have hope at a playoff berth, but Michigan Center solidified their own postseason bid in a 35-20 final.
The Cardinals improved to 7-2 overall after their Cascades East-West crossover victory. Jonesville falls to 3-6 overall on the season. Stats will be updated as soon as they are available.
Pioneer North Central 16, Reading 14
PIONEER, OH — The Rangers made the trip down to Pioneer, Ohio for their final game of the 2023 season. After earning a Week 8 homecoming win over Erie-Mason, the Rangers and coach Rick Bailey looked to end their season on a high note.
Pioneer North Central stopped a 2-point conversion try from Reading with two minutes to go to earn the win. The ball nearly crossed the goal line but was short by just inches.
Lukas Strine led the Rangers with 15 carries, 137 yards, one touchdown and a 2-point conversion. Senior Tayshawn Bester had 16 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown. Caiden Baker had four carries for 60 yards.
Strine led the defense with eight tackles. Senior Austin Neely had six tackles. Tayshawn Bester had six tackles.
"We would like to thank all of our players, especially our seniors, for their contributions to the Ranger football program," said Bailey. "Our win-loss record certainly doesn't show it, but there were a lot of successes on the season."
The Rangers battled through adversity and injuries in 2023, ending their year with a 2-7 overall record.
Sandusky St. Mary's (OH) 42, North Adams-Jerome 22
NORTH ADAMS — The Rams varsity football team concluded their season with a game against St. Mary's Central Catholic of Ohio. The Rams fell in the 42-22 final, ending their season with a 1-8 record.
Rams athlete will Thielen had two touchdowns. Senior Braxton Smith had two 2-point conversions. Caleb Daniels scored a touchdown.
The Rams defeated their rival from Waldron 32-26 in Week 8 for their lone victory of the season.
Stryker 56, Waldron 46
Waldron fell to Stryker in a shootout game that saw more than 100 points scored. Stryker pulled away for the 56-46 victory, dropping Waldron down to 2-7 on the 2023 season.
The Spartans and the Panthers were deadlocked at 30-all at halftime. The Spartans attempted to keep up with Stryker but were outscored 26-16 in the second half of game action.
Waldron senior Sam Williams nearly eclipsed 200 yards on the ground, finishing the night with 197 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries. Younger brother and QB Seth Williams had 33 rushing yards, three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.
Seth Williams went 13 for 23 for 199 passing yards and one touchdown. Sam Williams led the team with 77 yards on six receptions. Troy Shamplo had three receptions for 15 yards and one touchdown.
Sam Williams had 12 total tackles and one sack. Troy Shamplo had 11 tackles. Cam Kurtz had seven total tackles and one sack. Alec Shamplo had nine total tackles, one for a loss, and one fumble recovery. Gabe Stiver had eight total tackles.
Waldron's two wins this season included a 28-24 win over Lakeside Danbury and a 24-20 win over Burr Oak.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale earns senior night victory; Two teams earn playoff spots
