Prep Football: Mason sets passing records; Summerfield soars; SMCC stymied

ERIE − Erie Mason football coach Steven Bowers felt there was a strong connection between quarterback Vaughn Brown and receiver Korbin Herrera.

It turns out that it was a record-setting connection.

Brown tossed a record-breaking eight touchdown passes in the first half Friday night to lead Mason to a 50-14 win over Saranac in its season opener.

Herrera was on the receiving end of half of those scores, catching touchdowns of 61, 35, 35, and 40 yards.

"They did a good job connecting in our 7-on-7s this summer and they were committed through the offseason. They had big plans to have big junior seasons," Bowers said. "It's definitely something we hoped to highlight this season, so it see it in the first game is definitely good."

Brown had three touchdown passes in the first quarter and five more in the second. Mason led 50-14 at halftime and had a running clock for the rest of the game.

Trent Herrera added TD catches of 40 and 29 yards, Michael Narew had a 5-yard scoring catch, and Xavier Wise caught a 9-yard touchdown pass.

"We had a lot of big scores; long plays for touchdowns," Bowers said. "We probably outmatched them with our speed and athleticism. They came out and were physical and smashed us in the mouth a little early on, but I don't think they could run with our receivers as much as they would've liked to."

Brown's eight touchdown passes in a half tied the state record first set by Austin Brown of Madison Heights Madison, who had eight touchdown passes in the first half against Warren Lincoln in 2017. Brown was one shy of the state record of nine in a game set by Omar Salih of Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy in 2013.

The Monroe County Region previous record for TD passes in a game was believed to be six by Nick Gildersleeve of Dundee in 2000.

"Vaughn had 10 total touchdown passes last season, so to have eight in one game is definitely pretty crazy," Bowers said. "Vaughn is a really good kid, a hard worker, and a good quarterback for us."

Vaughn finished the game 13-for-19 passing for 358 yards and eight touchdowns. He also added 4 carries for 37 yards rushing.

Korbin Herrera had 4 catches for 167 yards and four TDs, and Trent Herrera had 116 yards and two TDs on 3 receptions.

First Quarter

EM - Korbin Herrera 61 pass from Vaughn Brown (pass failed)

EM - K. Herrera 35 pass from Brown (pass failed)

EM - Michael Narew 5 pass from Brown (run failed)

Second Quarter

EM - Trent Herrera 25 pass from Brown (pass failed)

EM - K. Herrera 35 pass from Brown (run failed)

EM - T. Herrera 40 pass from Brown (T. Herrera pass from Brown)

EM - K. Herrera 40 pass from Brown (run failed)

EM - Xavier Wise 9 pass from Brown (pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: Cole Kreger, EM, 7-45; Vaughn Brown, EM, 4-37; Zach Miller, EM, 8-33; Logan Goodin, EM, 6-18.

Passing: Vaughn Brown, EM, 13-19-358.

Receiving: Korbin Herrera, EM, 4-167; Trent Herrera, EM, 3-116; Toby Frazier, EM, 1-32; Xavier Wise, EM, 2-22; Michael Narew, EM, 2-13; Cole Kreger, EM, 1-8.

Summerfield 40, Waterford Our Lady 12

PETERSBURG − Senior Brandon Thompson scored twice in the first quarter and the Bulldogs' defense was pitching a shutout.

It was never going to be that easy.

"We had a good first quarter, but second quarter we kind of laid an egg," Summerfield coach Alex Lipka said. "We started seven kids who hand't started on varsity yet, but we addressed it as a team and got after it after halftime."

Summerfield's stumble was brief.

The Bulldogs quickly pulled it all back together and rolled to a 40-12 win over Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes.

Our Lady got on the board with a pick-six in the second quarter. That seemed to get the ball rolling for the Lakers. They scored again before the intermission to pull within 14-12.

"They made a really good play on the pick-six," Lipka said. "It was just a good football play, you can't take anything away. We just really shot ourselves in the foot. It was a lot of growing pains."

Thompson halted Summerfield's skid with a 4-yard TD run in the third, and quarterback Bryce Kalb made up for his earlier miscue with a heads-up 43-yard rushing touchdown to make it 33-12.

"It was supposed to be a pass play, but the pocket collapsed and he just tucked it and ran," Lipka said. "One of our receivers, Tyler Dafoe, took their receiver for a ride on a block and that set up a nice touchdown for Bryce."

Thompson added his fourth TD of the game with a 5-yard rush in the fourth. He also scored in the first quarter on a 35-yard run and a 57-yard pass from Kalb.

Thompson finished with 11 carries for 117 yards and 3 TDs, and 4 catches for 124 yards and a score.

"He's just a playmaker," Lipka said of Thompson. "There's no quit in that kid. His motor's always going."

Dakota Kohn closed out the scoring with a 50 yard run to the end zone.

Kalb was 6-for-17 passing for 135 yards and added 10 carries for 80 yards and a TD. Kohn had 7 carries for 90 yards and a TD and a team-high 12 tackles on defense.

Jake Wadsworth (9 tackles), Thompson (8 tackles), Logan Keane (7 tackles, fumble recovery), and Mason Hall (7 tackles, sack) also played well.

"I saw some nice things. I saw some things we need to work on," Lipka said. "But we're really young and there was a lot of growth from last week's scrimmage to this week. The things we need to fix, we'll fix."

First Quarter

S - Brandon Thompson 35 run (Jake Wadsworth kick)

S - Thompson 57 pass from Bryce Kalb (Wadsworth kick)

Third Quarter

S - Thompson 4 run (kick failed)

S - Kalb 43 run (Wadsworth kick)

Fourth Quarter

S - Thompson 5 run (kick failed)

S - Kohn 50 run (Wadsworth kick)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: Brandon Thompson, S, 11-117; Dakota Kohn, S, 7-90; Bryce Kalb, S, 10-80.

Passing: Bryce Kalb, S, 6-17-135.

Receiving: Brandon Thompson, S, 4-124.

Warren Michigan Collegiate 28, SMCC 3

WARREN − St. Mary Catholic Central twice had the ball inside the 15-yard line Friday night at Warren Michigan Collegiate.

But the Falcons only came away with 3 points.

"Missed opportunities," SMCC coach Adam Kipf said. "That was the story."

It all started well.

SMCC blocked a punt on Collegiate's opening drive and started on the Cougars' 20. A fumble on fourth and 3 from the 13 cost the Falcons the end zone.

"We were clear sailing to get the first down and then some, but we fumbled the handoff," Kipf said. "They got the ball back, marched down the field and scored. We should've been up 7-0 and instead we were down 6-0. It was a 12-13 point swing there and we just didn't take advantage of the situation.

"Collegiate was very good and they imposed their will on us tonight. They played physical and stepped it up."

SMCC later drove down to Collegiate's 9-yard line before stalling out again. Patrick Lipford kicked a field goal for the Falcon's only points.

Collegiate won 11 games last season and played in the state championship game. It was a good test for the Falcons.

"We're going to use this as something to learn from," Kipf said. "We made a lot of mistakes tonight. Just wrong assignments, not playing the way we should. We're going to work on that in practice this week. We're going to get better."

Second Quarter

SMCC - Patrick Lipford 25 field goal

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: Drew Harris, S, 7-24; Evan Marcon, S, 4-19; Patrick Lipford, S, 5-13; Chase Terrasi, S, 3-13.

Passing: Carson Kinsey, S, 0-2-0.

Tackles: Bradley Birkenhier, S, 6; Patrick Lipford, S, 5.5; Evan Marcon, S, 4.5.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Prep Roundup: Mason, Summerfield win big; SMCC stymied