Mendon beats Morrice, will play for state title in Marquette

Mendon head coach Bobby Kretschman shared a hug with former coach John Schwartz on Saturday afternoon.

The smiles from both coaches, as seen by everyone around them, were genuine and captivating. The Hornets had just clinched a return trip to the state finals, somewhere Schwartz has been plenty of times as the head man leading Mendon.

Schwartz has plenty of titles to his name — all deserved as Mendon has built one of the better programs in the history of football in Michigan. Kretschman was an important member of the 2005 state championship Mendon team as a senior and won one with the Hornets in 2002 as a freshman. He was also an assistant coach when the Hornets last won a state championship, back in 2011. Now, it’s Kretschman’s turn as the head man in charge to lead Mendon into a state title game.

“I’m so proud of these kids, proud of this town, this community. We talk about it all the time — when you have everybody from the school, the parents, the coaches, the kids, everybody working in the same direction, you can establish something special,” Kretschman said following Saturday’s 30-14 state semifinals win over Morrice.

The Hornets were in the state semifinals in 8-player football after starting the season at 1-2. Those losses came by a combined eight points to Martin — which will play in the Division 1 8-player state semifinals before Mendon takes the field — and Bridgman, which finished undefeated for the second straight season. Those losses, where Mendon had chances to win, helped fuel them the remainder of the season.

“I think it focused our kids, when other teams score or you get down, hey we’ve been there before so keep fighting, keep playing,” Kretschman said. “Our kids keep their composure and keep playing. We always ask our kids to give us four quarters and we will figure everything out.”

Mendon earned the right to play a home game in the semifinals. The Hornets beat both Climax-Scotts and Colon, a pair of Top 10 teams in Division 8-player all season, in the opening two rounds. Both of those were emotional wins against rival teams, so it was only natural for the Hornets to come out on Saturday and be a bit lethargic.

The Hornets and Orioles played to an 0-0 tie after one quarter of play. That 0-0 tie went into the halfway mark of the second quarter as well before Mendon struck first.

Evan Lukeman would find the end zone for the first points of the game, it was a 5-yard run. He added the conversion attempt as well and Mendon was able to feel good about taking the lead.

“Give Morrice credit, that’s a hell of a football team. They’re a physical team, they’re gritty, they brought it, man,” Kretschman said. “So hats off to their coach and their staff. They had those kids ready to play.”

Jack McCaw would lengthen the lead for Mendon 14-0 just a couple of minutes later. He rumbled down the sideline, scoring on a 67-yard TD run. Lukeman ran the conversion in, making the score 16-0. McCaw said the field conditions, which were spotted with snow and started to get a bit muddy, played a role early.

“It was kind of slippery in the beginning, but we started to get more hyped and pumped up,” McCaw said. “We decided it was time to change what we were doing and just start blocking correctly. We went back to the fundamentals, once we did that it was golden.”

Morrice didn’t go away just yet, though. Following the Mendon touchdown, Drew McGowan fielded an onside kick and took it back for a TD for the Orioles. Kretschman said there was a bit of miscommunication prior to the kick, it resulted in Morrice getting on the board. The Orioles added the conversion attempt.

The game would head to halftime with the same score at 16-8. That’s because the Mendon defense made a huge stop just before halftime.

The Orioles got the football back following a Mendon punt and Morrice was in plus-territory. They got all the way inside the Mendon red zone, but a big play by Nic Stiver on an interception ended any rally the Orioles had.

“From a defensive standpoint, our kids kept fighting, kept fighting, kept fighting,” Kretschman said. “We talk about it all the time, make them keep snapping the ball. Make them work for it. We didn’t give up any big plays outside of the kick return, so that was good.”

Morrice scored the opening points of the third quarter as well. The Orioles would find the end zone at the 4:26 mark, it was a 3-yard TD run from McGowan that made the score 16-14. Mendon’s defense proved to be stout once again, stopping Morrice from scoring on the conversion attempt.

It would be as close as the game would be the remainder of the contest.

McCaw would score twice more, making it three for the day, in the next handful of minutes of game time. The first was a 35-yard run, the second came on a 10-yard run early in the fourth quarter that made the score 30-14 following his conversion success as well.

The 30-14 edge was big for the Hornets because the snow began to fly heavily, making the field even more difficult to play on for both teams. McCaw, who gets hit on nearly every play, said that was just fine.

“I’ll tell you what, that’s football man and I love it,” McCaw said. “I love taking hits, I love hitting people. It’s a nice feeling.”

Mendon rolled up 378 yards of total offense in the game. The Hornets ran the football 55 times for 336 yards as well, dominating the line of scrimmage for the majority of the game.

McCaw rushed for 196 yards on 21 carries, Lukeman ran for 105 on 23 carries while Luke Schinker rushed for 34 yards on 10 carries.

Schinker and McCaw combined to complete three passes for 42 yards.

Defensively, Stiver led the way with 13 tackles, McCaw made nine stops and Khayvien Brown totaled eight stops. Nathan Vergauwen was in on six stops, Grant Crotser totaled five tackles.

Brown was all smiles following Saturday’s win. He’s been to the Upper Peninsula before, but never as far west as where the Hornets will play for a state championship next week.

“I’ve been to Sault Ste. Marie before, but I haven’t been all the way over to Marquette,” Brown said. “It’s gonna be a drive, I’ll tell ya. But I’m very happy for this team.”

Mendon is set to play the 2 p.m. game inside the Yooper Dome next Saturday. They’ll take on two-time defending champion Powers North Central in that game. The Jets just beat Marion 36-12 in the other semifinals on Saturday.North Central has won 36 consecutive games. But the Hornets are also proud of they have accomplished to this point in the season as well. They keep it simple, work hard and and get results.

“I know it’s nothing flashy or anything special, it’s just good old fashioned football, it’s hard work,” Kretschman said. “We’ve fought to get back to this point. I am so proud of these kids for everything they’ve given and leaving their mark on this program.”

The state finals next Saturday will feature Martin (10-2) taking on Merrill (12-0) in the first game at 11 a.m. Mendon and Powers are scheduled for play at 2 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Mendon beats Morrice, will play for state title in Marquette