Novi's David Tyree moment helps beat Hartland in KLAA West football
NOVI — All his teammates wanted to talk about with him after the game was "The Catch."
Not Boden Fernsler’s 19-yard catch on fourth-and-11 that turned out to be the game-winner Thursday night in Novi’s 13-10 victory over Hartland in a KLAA West football opener.
Instead, the topic of interest was the catch that didn’t show up in the scoring summary, one so remarkable that a teammate compared it to David Tyree’s iconic grab against his helmet in the New York Giants’ Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in 2008.
With Novi facing third-and-eight, quarterback Caleb Walker threw a high pass that Fernsler juggled a few times while defended by Hartland cornerback Dylan Neuer. A split second before free safety Sam Clay arrived on the scene, Fernsler corralled the 39-yard pass with 5:17 left in the third quarter, giving Novi a first down at Hartland’s 45-yard line.
“The (defensive back) played good defense,” Fernsler said. “I had to tip it up a few times, because he was playing good defense. He was all over me. I was able to come up with it at the end.”
Like Tyree’s catch, it didn’t win the game, but it made Novi’s go-ahead touchdown possible. Fernsler’s catch extended a drive that ended with him catching a 21-yard pass over the middle from senior quarterback Luke Aurilia with 3:29 left in the third quarter.
“I just had a lot of space on the side,” said Fernsler, who caught five passes for 77 yards and both Novi touchdowns. “I had a post route. There was only one high safety, so I had a lot of space. Luke put a great ball on me, wide open for a touchdown.”
Both teams rotated quarterbacks. For Novi, Walker was 9-for-16 for 83 yards and a 5-yard touchdown to Fernsler and Aurilia was 2-for-3 for 28 yards and a score.
“We tried to keep Hartland off balance, so we used both guys,” Novi coach Jim Sparks said. “They both bring different things to the table. Luke’s main thing is he’s got so much experience. You want to make sure he’s on the field as much as possible. We try to reward guys for hard work. Caleb’s worked incredibly hard.
“We thought, maybe, it would be to our advantage if we played them both. I looked at coach (Jim) Harbaugh; it seemed like a good idea, so I gave it a whirl.”
For Hartland, junior starter James Butzier scored on a 5-yard run with 47 seconds left in the first half before sharing time with Clay in the second half.
Clay and Butzier played on the first series of the third quarter and each had a touchdown run called back by a holding penalty. Hartland had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Alex Hernandez with 5:51 left in the third.
“We tried something a little different,” Hartland coach Brian Savage said. “James played great. Sam plays great. We just have two kids who work hard there. It’s sort of the flow of the game. I thought Sam might do something different in the second half and he gave us a little look. It’s just probably something we’re going to be doing a little bit.”
The penalty-plagued opening drive set the tone for the second half for the Eagles, who had six penalties for 65 yards after halftime. They aided Novi’s game-winning drive by committing a defensive holding penalty and being assessed for a late hit when Walker scrambled out of bounds.
“Too many penalties down in the end zone there,” Savage said. “We had two touchdowns called back. It could’ve been a different game, but it is what it is. We’ll just move on.”
Clay was behind center with the game on the line after Hartland forced a punt with 3:52 remaining. Clay ran the ball four straight times, moving the ball from the 50 to the Novi 23-yard line with 2:06 to go.
Just when things looked promising for the Eagles, they took a 15-yard personal foul penalty, then fumbled with 59 seconds left. Hartland still had all three timeouts, which became moot when Aurilia ran 11 yards for a first down with 45 seconds to go.
Novi kept Hartland running back Joey Mattord bottled up the entire night, holding him to 50 yards on 20 carries. Clay led Hartland in rushing with 55 yards on 12 carries.
“Those two inside linebackers were flowing to Joey,” Savage said. “Their kids maybe came off the line a little harder sometimes. Self-inflicted penalties cost us in key spots; that was the biggest factor tonight.”
Linebacker Niko Krall was all over the field for Novi, making 17 tackles, four tackles for losses and one sack. Cole Shires forced two fumbles.
Hartland’s Mitch Cavanaugh had four tackles for losses among his team-high seven tackles. He also caught three passes for 44 yards.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Novi's David Tyree moment helps beat Hartland in KLAA West football
