Prep Football: Jefferson, Bedford, Milan, Flat Rock, Carlson win openers
Jefferson did not quite get what it expected in Thursday's season opener against Onsted.
First-year head coach Eric Tipton felt the team came in prepared, but the Wildcats had a few tricks up their sleeves.
"We had a really good game plan, but they did some different things we had to adjust to," Tipton said. "They did a good job not showing a lot of things they did in the film of the scrimmage we got to watch."
Photo Gallery: Onsted at Jefferson football
That ultimately didn't matter much to Tipton.
The Bears coaching staff was up to the challenge.
"Our coaches did a great job adjusting and our kids stepped up in a big way," Tipton said. "Hats off to the staff. They put everybody in place, made adjustments, and the kids played their butts off."
Jefferson rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Onsted 14-12.
The Bears were held scoreless in the first half and fell behind 6-0.
Myles Tackett tied the game for Jefferson with a 62-yard rushing touchdown in the third, but Onsted quickly went back ahead.
"The biggest adjustment we had was our blocking on offense. We were running power to the strong side and we had to go back and run it to the weak side," Tipton said. "We had to do that a couple times. Just ground and pound run at them until we wore them down."
A busted play late in the fourth finally gave the Bears the lead.
Tackett made a heads-up play on a mistimed snap during a critical fourth down.
"He caught it and had the wherewithal to take off running and he got the first," Tipton said. "It went from 'What just happened' to 'OK, great play' real fast."
The Bears made it count as Malachi Pribyl scored on a 5-yard run to tie the game and then added the 2-point conversion for the lead.
Tackett finished 9-for-13 passing for 67 yards and added 11 carries for 76 yards rushing. Pribyl had 4 catches for 38 yards. Defensively, Seth Minney led with 8 tackles and Kam Woiderski added 7.
"Going through it, you could tell everybody was gassed. It was humid and hot, but I thought we were in better shape," Tipton said. "We got to the second half and grinded. We still had some stamina in us and we finished it. ... We always preach playing four full quarters and they finished it tonight."
Jefferson 0 0 6 8 – 14
Onsted 6 0 6 0 – 12
First Quarter
O – Ayden Davis 6 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
J – Myles Tackett 62 run (pass failed)
O – Xavier Gibbs 22 run (pass failed)
Fourth Quarter
J – Malachi Pribyl 5 run (Pribyl run)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Xavier Gibbs, O, 14-98; Myles Tackett, J, 11-76.
Passing: Hunter Kelley, O, 8-17-68; Myles Tackett, J, 9-13-67.
Receiving: Malachi Pribyl, J, 4-38; Quinn Hiram, O. 3-28; Nic Sutka, O, 1-17; Ayden Davis, O, 2-14.
Bedford 42, Utica Ford 21
STERLING HEIGHTS − Bedford traded blows with Utica Ford in the first half before the Kicking Mules did what they do best to pull away in the third.
“Lots of senior leadership made the difference tonight,” Bedford coach John Phillips said. “They rallied around our young quarterback. Three captains found the end zone to help the cause. Defensive adjustments helped shut them out in the second half.”
Tyler Boerst (6 carries for 117 yards) already had a 59-yard touchdown run under his belt before galloping away for a 50-yard score to open the second half. He punched in a 7-yard TD run after that, and then Hunter Poignon (10 carries for 111 yards) sealed the deal with a 74-yard touchdown run to give Bedford a 21-point lead that they never relinquished.
The Mules did allow Utica quarterback Luke Kameg to throw for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24-of-39 passing. But Bedford held the home team scoreless in the second half, and kept Utica from recording a single net positive rushing yard for the game.
Bedford quarterback Lucas Gerber (4-for-5 passing for 59 yards) threw two touchdown passes: a 37-yarder to Thomas Huss, and a 19-yarder to Owen Przybylski.
Bedford 14 7 21 0 – 42
Utica Ford 7 14 0 0 – 21
First Quarter
B - Thomas Huss 37 pass from Lucas Gerber (Jack Decker kick)
UF - Niko Nunnery 8 pass from Luke Kameg (Drew Graves kick)
B - Owen Przybylski 19 pass from Gerber (Decker kick)
Second Quarter
UF - Jack Nilson 5 pass from Kameg (Graves kick)
B - Tyler Boerst 59 run (Decker kick)
UF - Kameg 2 run (Graves kick)
Third Quarter
B - Boerst 50 run (Decker kick)
B - Boerst 7 run (Decker kick)
B - Hunter Poignon 74 run (Decker kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Tyler Boerst, B, 6-117; Hunter Poignon, B, 10-111; Truey Brueggemann, B, 7-89.
Passing: Luke Kameg, UF, 24-39-274; Lucas Gerber, B, 4-5-59.
Receiving: Niko Nunnery, UF, 8-139; Jack Nilson, UF, 7-94; Thomas Huss, B, 1-37; Michael Brown, UF, 5-22; Owen Przybylski, B, 1-19.
Milan 47, Berkley 0
BERKLEY − The Big Reds won their season opener behind a trio of veteran, two-way linemen.
Seniors William Walline, Mike Maurer, and Flannery Wayne helped Milan rack up 338 rushing yards while keeping Berkley's offense from being able to move much at all.
"We had a good feeling going into the game that we'd be able to control the line of scrimmage," said Milan coach Jesse Hoskins. "We had a good feeling (those three) would dominate tonight, and they didn't disappoint man. They kicked some butt. They're such wonderful young men, but you get them on a football field and they're maulers.
"It was a joy to watch them tonight."
Ronny Johnson led the Big Reds on the ground with 150 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries, but William Gaskell V was just behind him with 142 yards and 2 TDs on 15 touches and a third score on a 22-yard pass from Brady Bovenkerk (6-for-14 for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns).
Carson Baugher (4 catches for 60 yards) caught Bovenkerk's other TD throw, a 23-yarder that opened the scoring for Milan in the first quarter. Jackson Poling capped the night off with a 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Milan 7 20 13 7 – 47
Berkley 0 0 0 0 – 0
First Quarter
M – Carson Baugher 23 pass from Brady Bovenkerk (Adam Johnson kick)
Second Quarter
M – William Gaskell V 11 run (A. Johnson kick)
M – Ronny Johnson 85 run (A. Johnson kick)
M - R. Johnson 7 run (kick fail)
Third Quarter
M – Gaskell V 5 run (A. Johnson kick)
M – Gaskell V 22 pass from Bovenkerk (kick fail)
Fourth Quarter
M – Jackson Poling 4 run (Samuel Klein kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Ronny Johnson, M, 12-150; William Gaskell V., M, 15-142; Jackson Poling, 7-32.
Passing: Brady Bovenkerk, M, 6-14-83; Ronny Johnson, M, 0-1; William Gaskell V., M, 0-1.
Receiving: Carson Baugher, M, 4-60; William Gaskell V., M, 1-22.
Flat Rock 42, Melvindale 0
MELVINDALE − The Rams forced Melvindale into three turnovers and committed none of their own in a dominant season-opening win Thursday night.
One of those three turnovers was an interception that Rocco Breslin took back 50 yards to the house to give Flat Rock a 21-0 lead heading into the second quarter. By halftime, the Rams led Melvindale 35-0.
"It was definitely a good start," said Rams coach Buck Reaume. "We turned them over (three times), and we picked one off and ran it back, that was good. Then we scored offensively five touchdowns on top of that.
"Definitely a good start."
Flat Rock quarterback Graham Junge threw four touchdown passes Thursday, connecting with Adam Szaley on a 10-yard score, Aaron Salazar on 21- and 32-yard TDs, and Corey Lannon from 52 yards out.
Joey Godfrey ran in the Rams' final touchdown of the night from 14 yards out in the fourth quarter.
"Pretty good night," Reaume said.
Flat Rock 21 14 0 7 – 42
Melvindale 0 0 0 0 – 0
First Quarter
FR - Adam Szaley 10 pass from Graham Junge (Mitchell Smith kick)
FR - Aaron Salazar 21 pass from Junge (Smith kick)
FR - Rocco Breslin 50 interception return (Smith kick)
Second Quarter
FR - Salazar 32 pass from Junge (Smith kick)
FR - Corey Lannon 52 pass from Junge (Smith kick)
Fourth Quarter
FR - Joey Godfrey 14 run (Smith kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Brian Booms, FR, 10-89; Graham Junge, FR, 3-45; Joey Godfrey, FR, 11-36.
Passing: Graham Junge, FR, 9-12-144.
Receiving: Aaron Salazar, FR, 2-54; Corey Lannon, FR, 2-48; Jaycob Pieprzyk, FR, 2-20; Adam Szalay, FR, 1-15; Brian Booms, FR, 1-10; Joey Godfrey, FR, 1-7.
Gibraltar Carlson 45, Lincoln Park 0
LINCOLN PARK – Gibraltar Carlson treated Jason Gendron to a win in his debut as a varsity head coach as six different players scored touchdowns.
“I am super proud of the guys,” Gendron said. “This was everything we hoped for. … We spread it around very well. It was a balanced attack. A different guy scored every time.”
Omari Carter, a transfer from Saint Clair Shores South Lake, opened the scoring with a 59-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and finished with 138 yards on just 7 carries.
Other running TDs came from Brandon Scheffler, Ben Przytula, Eddie Light, Izaiah Wright, and Jackson Zachary.
Tyler Ostrowski booted six PATs and a 42-yard field goal.
Timmy Simons led the defense with 7 tackles and Wright had 5.
“We didn’t take them lightly,” Gendron said. “They were bringing back 21 of 22 starters and bringing in a lot of coaches from Wyandotte. We knew they would be well coached.”
Carlson 14 7 14 10 – 45
Lincoln Park 0 0 0 0 – 0
First Quarter
C – Omari Carter 59 run (Tyler Ostrowski kick)
C – Brandon Scheffler 6 run (Tyler Ostrowski kick)
Second Quarter
C – Ben Przytula 2 run (Tyler Ostrowski kick)
Third Quarter
C – Eddie Light 29 run (Tyler Ostrowski kick)
C – Izaiah Wright 24 run (Tyler Ostrowski kick)
Fourth Quarter
C – Jackson Zachary 20 run (Tyler Ostrowski kick)
C – Tyler Ostrowski 42 field goal
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Omari Carter, C, 7-138; Eddie Light, C, 5-45; Jackson Zachary, C, 3-41; Izaiah Wright, C, 5-38; Brandon Scheffler, C, 2-26.
Passing: Eddie Light, C, 5-10-41.
Receiving: Brandon Scheffler, C, 2-16; Tyler Collier, C, 1-12; Ben Przytula, C, 1-8; Omari Carter, C, 1-5.
Milford 28, New Boston Huron 7
NEW BOSTON – It wasn’t the opener that Hall of Fame coach Tom Hoover envisioned at New Boston Huron.
“A lot of things went wrong,” Hoover said. “What do you do? You love them up and go back to coaching. We knew there would be snags.”
His team trailed 28-0 in the fourth quarter before Ethan Woolery caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Christian Copley.
Micah Smith led the defense with 12 tackles and Wyatt Marantette logged 11.
Huron faces Huron League contenders Milan and Riverview in the next two games.
Milford 14 7 0 7 – 28
Huron 0 0 0 7 – 7
Fourth Quarter
H – Ethan Woolery 27 pass from Christian Copely (Anthony Gill kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Gavin Moczydlowski, H, 12-73; Micah Smith, H, 6-26.
Passing: Christian Copley, 7-19-93; Gavin Moczydlowski, H,7-16-61.
Receiving: Rory Callahan, H, 3-51; Sammy Furrugia, H 4-44; Ethan Woolery, H, 2-29.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Prep Football: Jefferson, Bedford, Milan, Flat Rock, Carlson win openers
