Michigan high school football finals: Hudson outmuscles Beal City for Division 8 title
Two teams with a lot of muscle up front and stingy defenses played well within character Friday morning at Ford Field, but Hudson proved to be a bit stronger, winning the Division 8 with a 14-7 win over Beal City.
The Tigers (14-0) owned better field possession throughout the second half and made good on their drive following the game’s first takeaway to win their first state championship since 2010.
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On the first play of the fourth quarter, Hudson’s Nick Kopin jarred the ball loose from a Beal City ball carrier and Easten Strodtman recovered at the 47. Nine plays later, Kopin barged into the end zone from 2 yards out. The conversion pass was incomplete, leaving Hudson with a 7-point edge.
It was the only time Hudson could convert in the second half against a team that had only allowed 70 points all season entering Friday.
“Their defense was very solid — the second-best in D-8 — they were only giving up about 8 points (per game) coming into this and we knew defensively they were very tough,” said Kopin, who had a game-high 131 rushing yards on 25 attempts. “Coach (Jeremy) Beal was on our backs, telling us we needed to run hard, run downhill the whole time, just keep going and keep going. I think that’s what we did.”
Hudson had three good chances to add to an 8-7 lead in the third quarter, but the Beal City defense refused to yield. The Tigers took their opening possession to the 2-yard line, but defensive lineman Matt Oswald stopped Brendan Akers from punching it in.
Hudson reached the 4 on its follow-up drive, but an illegal procedure call and a fumble pushed the ball back to the 12, where a fourth-down pass from Anthony Arreondo to Ambrose Horwath was incomplete. The Tigers held Beal City to three-and-out deep in their own territory, so following a punt, the next Hudson drive started at the Aggie 48, and stalled out three plays later.
Hudson took its first lead, 8-7, in the closing minutes of the first half. Hudson opened up its offense and started running to the outside, gaining big yardage. As a result, the Tigers put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive to get on the board 14 seconds before the break, when Kopin followed a block by left tackle Ty Morgan and got into the end zone from 6 yards out.
An illegal procedure call set the ball for the conversion attempt at the 7-yard line, but Anthony Arredondo connected with Ambrose Horwath for the lead, 8-7. Arredondo rolled out right and fired a low pass, but Horwath hauled it in at the goal line, rolling over the pylon.
Beal City (13-1) scored first, with 38 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, after both teams came up empty on their first two possessions.
Quarterback Hunter Miles scrambled right, had extra time, found two receivers deep and hit the second, Carter Fussman, who hauled in the ball at the 5 and tiptoed up the sideline into the end zone.
But passing isn't really Beal City’s forte; the Aggies had rushed for 3,500 yards and 49 touchdowns this season and threw for just 726 yards and eight TDs. Beal City was forced to air it out down the stretch in order to make up the 7-point deficit, and it backfired on two series. Bronson Marry ended the first drive when he intercepted an Aggie pass at the 30 and returned it to the Beal City 43 with six minutes to play.
The Aggies had another shot at tying the game with two minutes to play, but four passes fell incomplete, and Hudson was able to get the ball back and run out the clock.
“Field position was big. We had some big turnovers; Bronson had a nice pick for us. Defensively, it was a matter of just trying to not give up the big play, and make them earn every score,” Hudson coach Dan Rogers said. “Two great teams, and that’s what a state finals should be. Hat’s off to Beal City — that’s a mirror image of us — tough kids, and it was a great football game.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan high school football finals: Hudson wins Division 8 title
