Offenses Rule During Week Three in High School Football
By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
(September 9, 2023 8:06 AM ET) It was leave your defense at the door night in local high school football contests.
Seven local schools put up at least 30 points in games played Friday night.
Michigan Center and Columbia Central combined to score 35 points in the first quarter of a wild one at CCHS.
The Cardinals scored three times in the final nine minutes to pull out a heart-stopping win over the Golden Eagles.
Here are some of the highlights of high school football around the Jackson area.
Michigan Center 39, Columbia Central 35: The Cardinals stopped CCHS twice to earn the come-from-behind win. The two teams combined for 35 points in the first quarter – must have been leave your defense at the door night. Columbia Central led 28-20 at halftime and appeared to have the game in hand when Braden Ellison ran 50 yards for a score in the third quarter. But MCHS responded with three scores to end the game. Brennan Forward scored on a touchdown pass from Lucas Howard with 44 seconds remaining in the game to complete the comeback. Howard finished with 303 passing yards for the Cardinals with Kyran Lane his favorite target with 182 yards. Lane went over 200 offensive yards with 62 rushing yards. Braden Ellison ran for nearly 200 yards in the first half for CCHS, finishing with 325 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Colton Plate and Nic Richardson both finished with eight tackles for CCHS. Columbia Central (1-2) will travel to Addison next Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff while Michigan Center (2-1) will travel to Leslie at the same time.
Concord 34, Britton-Deerfield 28: Concord High School improved to 2-1 with a road win at Britton-Deerfield. “We played a great game on both sides of the ball,” CHS Coach Max Clark said. “We still need to clean up our penalties. “Regardless It is hard to go to Britton Deerfield and win. They are a tough, physical team and our guys battled a lot of adversity and found a way to win on the final drive.” Gavin Riske had another monster game with 300 yards passing and five touchdowns. Mekhi Wingfield caught 13 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns. T.J. Allen finished with eight catches for 92 yards, and three touchdowns. Allen finished with 11.5 tackles and Levi Raymond added 10 tackles for the Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets travel to Maple Valley for a 7 p.m. kickoff next Friday.
East Jackson 21, Homer 20: Caleb Weaver finished with 123 rushing yards and one touchdown offensively and created 10 tackles on defense for the Trojans. East Jackson (2-1) will host Grass Lake Friday at 7 p.m. while Homer (0-3) travels to Galesburg-Augusta for a non-conference tilt.
Napoleon 55, Hanover-Horton 12: Grant Bradley finished with three passing touchdowns, 241 passing yards, and a rushing touchdown for Napoleon (3-0). Kayden Fowler led the defense for Napoleon with 13 tackles. Da’Von Ackley finished with 48 rushing yards and Graham Gumper scored on a 45-yard run for the Comets. Napoleon will host Manchester Friday at 7 p.m. in a key Cascades Conference matchup. Hanover-Horton (0-3) will host Jonesville Friday at 7 p.m.
Grass Lake 40, Jonesville 32: Brayden Lape picked up where he left off last week, throwing for 287 yards and four touchdowns for Grass Lake. Bryant Cook finished with 118 receiving yards and two scores and Liam Metheringham finished with 101 receiving yards for Grass Lake. Jack Cook tallied 15 tackles for the Warriors (3-0). Jonesville (0-3) will travel to Hanover-Horton for a 7 p.m. kickoff next Friday while Grass Lake travels to East Jackson for a 7 p.m. kickoff the same night.
Jackson 50, Tecumseh 49, OT: The Vikings went big and came home a winner against Tecumseh on the road. Jackson went for a 2-point conversion in overtime to win the Southeastern Conference game. Kyson Cooper rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Connor Bush threw for 123 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 110 yards and two more scores for Jackson. Jackson (2-1) hosts Pinckney in the Vikings’ first home game of the season next Friday at 7 p.m.
Lumen Christi 28, Gull Lake 0: Isaac Rehberg scored two touchdowns on runs of 7 yards and 1 yard for the Titans. Kadale Williams ran for 106 yards and one score for Lumen Christi (3-0) and Gabe King scored on a 10-yard pass from Timmy Crowley. Defensively, Alex Pastoriza intercepted a pass and returned it 22 yards for LCCHS. The Titans will host Detroit U of D Jesuit Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Summerfield 27, Springport 2: Springport scored its first points of the season on a safety. Rylinn Hale finished with 42 rushing yards for Springport. The Spartans (0-3) host Quincy next Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff in the Big Eight Conference.
Western 51, Pennfield 7: The Panthers improved to 3-0 with the blowout win over Pennfield. Richland Gull Lake travels to Western on Friday for a non-conference game beginning at 7 p.m.
Manchester 27, Stockbridge 15: Blake Sloan scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Manchester improved to 3-0 on the season. Sloan finished with 123 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Flying Dutchmen. Bubba Duffing led the defense for Manchester with 16.5 tackles. Zac Rogozinski finished with 165 passing yards and one touchdown for Stockbridge (1-2). Manchester will travel to Napoleon for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday while Stockbridge plays Hart in a non-conference game.
Harper Creek 55, Northwest 10: The Mounties took a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 22-yard field goal by Maddox Grimes. But Harper Creek would score early and often in the contest. Gabriel Christner finished with 165 passing yards for the Mounties (1-2). Northwest hits the road for the first time this season for an Interstate-8 Conference battle with Pennfield at 7 p.m.
Addison 58, Leslie 14: Spencer Brown scored twice in the first half and finished the game with 157 rushing yards in the blowout win over Leslie. Mike Trumble also finished with a pair of touchdown runs of 22 and 15 yards. Jayden Colby scored both touchdowns for the Blackhawks on runs of 55 and 34 yards. Columbia Central will travel to Addison next Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff while Leslie will host Michigan Center in Cascades Conference action on Friday at 7 p.m.
Hudson 16, Hillsdale 0: Stephen Petersen and Jace Lennox both finished with 14 tackles for the Hornets against Hudson. Offensively, Hillsdale was held to 64 rushing yards in the contest. Hillsdale travels to Blissfield for a 7 p.m. kickoff next Friday.