Sports

St. Mary's Wins District Title in 62-20 Rout

Spencer McInnis (103 yards rushing) and Grant Niemiec (194 yards rushing) led the Eaglets to the win on the road over Redford Thurston.

The score: Orchard Lake St. Mary's 62, Redford Thurston 20

The stars: Junior fullback Grant Niemiec ran for 194 yards on 19 carries and four touchdowns to supply the thunder, while senior tailback Spencer McInnis ran for 103 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns to supply the lightning. Both carried the Eaglets to their highest point total of the season when the lights were at their brightest.

The turning point: Leading 7-6 late in the first quarter and plagued by penalties at that point, St. Mary's faced third-and-20 at the Thurston 44-yard-line. Senior quarterback Dan Clements found sophomore wideout Jalen Watts-Jackson in single coverage and threw a bomb to the Eagles' 5-yard-line. Two plays later, St. Mary's scored in the second of five unanswered touchdowns in the first half.

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The quote: "I was very pleased with the offensive line. McInnis and Niemiec, they’re tough runners and they don’t go down easy. They had some holes to run into tonight." — St. Mary's head coach George Porritt.

What’s next? St. Mary's will take on Linden at home, either next Friday or Saturday, at Porritt's discretion.

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Bottom line: St. Mary's looked like a team on a mission in winning the Division 3, District 2 championship. On the road, the offense fought through some early penalty headaches to run (literally) like the smooth machine it can be. Meanwhile, the defense forced the 6-foot, 255-lbs. Eagles quarterback Devin Ryles to run around all game.

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For the Redford Thurston High School varsity football team, talk of revenge against the Orchard Lake St. Mary's Eaglets will have to wait another season.

St. Mary's went on the road for the first time in this season's Michigan High School Athletic Association playoffs Friday and routed the Eagles, 62-20, to win the district championship, a year after ending Thurston's season in the regional championship last year.

Just as he did last year, junior fullback Grant Niemiec was a star for the Eaglets' rushing attack. Niemiec torched Thurston for 176 yards last year; Friday, he rushed for 194 yards on 19 carries before being pulled in the second half. Senior tailback Spencer McInnis added 103 yards and the two scored seven touchdowns between them.

"I was very pleased with the offensive line. McInnis and Niemiec, they’re tough runners and they don’t go down easy. They had some holes to run into tonight," said St. Mary's head coach George Porritt, who will choose to play Linden in the regional round next weekend on either Friday or Saturday at home.

It’s one at a time ... hats off to (Thurston) and their coach, but you’ve got to come play in the playoffs."

Porritt added that the Eaglets took some time getting going after a blowout win against Detroit Pershing last week. Thurston senior quarterback Devin Ryles scored a touchdown pass on the game's opening drive in spectacular fashion; while being dragged down in the backfield, he fired from his knees to hit senior wideout Eric Wilson for a 22-yard score. 

Ryles, a 6-foot, 255-lbs., mobile sledgehammer, never seemed to go down easy Friday, but St. Mary's scored on the ensuing drive after a 19-yard run from McInnis.

"Their quarterback does an outstanding job for them," Porritt said. "We hoped we could get a push up the middle and get him going sideways because he’s got a nice arm. If he goes downhill, you’re going to have a headache."

The Eaglets took three penalties in the first quarter and were faced with a tough third-and-20 from the Redford 44 yard-line when senior quarterback Dan Clements came through in a big way. Clements spotted sophomore wideout Jalen Watts-Jackson streaking downfield and hit him with a 39-yard bomb to set up the second score.

Watts-Jackson later ended the game with an interception return for a score; the Eaglets' ninth touchdown of the game.

"Just a beautiful pass by Dan. We thought if we could get one-on-one coverage  for Jalen, we'd let him just go get it. And Jalen's a great young athlete, so that's what he did," Porritt said.

St. Mary's later broke the game over on dumb luck, Porritt said. After another touchdown from McInnis — a 38-yard rush to bring the score to 14-6 — kicker Paul Graham whiffed on the kickoff attempt. However, the ball bounced off an unknowing Eagle and was scooped up by running back Charles Croone.

Nine plays later, Niemiec punched it in from one yard out to give St. Mary's the 28-6 lead. They never looked back.

"We were trying to squib it down right and our kicker just didn’t get enough of it. We sort of lucked out on that one," Porritt said.

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Orchard Lake St. Mary's 62, Redford Thurston 20

OLSM – 7 28 21 6 - 62

THS – 6 8 0 7 - 20

THS: Wilson 22 pass from Ryles (Alessandrini blocked)

OLSM: S. McInnis 19 run (Graham kick)

OLSM: Niemiec 1 run (Graham kick)

OLSM: S. McInnis 38 run (Graham kick)

OLSM: Niemiec 1 run (Graham kick)

OLSM: Niemiec 32 run (Graham kick)

THS: M. Johnson 65 kick return (Broxton pass from Ryles 2-point conversion)

OLSM: S. McInnis 80 kick return (Graham kick)

OLSM: Niemiec 31 run (Graham kick)

OLSM: Croone 2 run (Parry kick)

THS: S. Williams 73 pass from Ryles (Alessandrini miss)

OLSM: Watts-Jackson 35 interception return (Linehan pass incomplete)

RUSHING:

OLSM: S. McInnis 12-103, Niemiec 19-194, P. McInnis 6-52, Croone 9-21, Robinson 1-6. Totals: 47-376. THS: Ryles 10-14, Wilson 2-minus-1, K. Williams 2-2, M. Johnson 2-4. Totals: 16-19.

PASSING:

OLSM: Clements 3-4-61-0. THS: Ryles 9-12-131-1.

RECEIVING:

OLSM: Watts-Jackson 2-53, Niemiec 1-8. Totals: 3-61. THS: Wilson 5-56, S. Williams 2-75, Gray 1-1, K. Williams 1-minus-1. Totals: 9-131.


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