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Both
teams didn't move the ball much on their next
possession. Hemlock was forced to punt and
Reese coughed up the ball again, giving Hemlock
great field position. Wagoner went to town
again, breaking a 30+ yard run down inside of
the red zone. Keyser found his favorite
target Hirschman open in the middle of the field
and Derek did the rest of the damage getting
down the 1. After Keyser was stuffed on
the QB draw, Wagoner, took it the rest of the
way for 6, his second TD run of the evening.
Things were not looking good for Coach Saylor
and his highly touted Rockets squad.
Hemlock had pretty much moved the ball at will
and it just wasn't through the air, it was also
grinding out yards on the gourd with Wagoner.
After yet another defensive stand, the Huskies
got the ball back and went right back on the
offensive, not letting their foot off of the
gas. After a few nice runs by Wagoner,
Keyser went right back to the air, this time to
another one of this favorite targets, WR Justin
Wilsey. Keyser rolled out to buy some time
and found a wide open Wilsey who actually had
no-one on him. Keyser, probably seeing a
definite score, was a little high with the pass,
however Wilsey jumped up and came down it,
turned around and raced 39 yards for the score.
In what was suppose to be one of the best games
of the fall was turning into a blowout.
The final 3 and half minutes of the opening half
went scoreless and that was just what the doctor
had ordered to a Rocket team looking for
anything to grasp onto.
Hemlock got the ball back to open the 2nd half
but they shot themselves in the foot with
penalties. 2 illegal blocks in the back
and the Huskies kept moving further and further
towards their own goaline. Reese forced
the punt and were eager to get back on offense
to trim the margin. Oldenburg took over in
the next possession, ripping off huge gains on
the option. Hemlock's defense was doing a
great job of either stopping the QB or the
Pitchman, however they rarely did both.
Mainly in part to the great fakes being
perpetrated by Oldenburg and his ability to hang
onto the ball until the absolute last second.
With just over 8 minutes remaining in the 3rd
Quarter, Oldenburg took it the distance for 25
and the a score, moving within 2 scores of the
Huskies.
On Hemlock's next possession, Reese started to
anticipate some of Hemlock's key plays like the
screen. On 3rd and long, Reese stuffed
Wagoner behind the line of scrimmage on a screen
pass, pumping up the crowd and the Rockets even
more. FL/DB Issac Zimmer took the Hemlock
punt and made a few men miss then scooted to the
Husky 43, in striking distance for another
score. The Rockets advanced the 30 but had
trouble advancing past that point. On 4th
and 11, Hemlock LB, Cory Pitt chased Oldenburg
down from the backside and dropped him for a
huge loss and a turnover on downs.
Moments later, Keyser went deep the Hirschman
who had to slow down the receive the ball.
As he grabbed it over his shoulder, he ran in
with relatively ease into the endzone and what
seemed to be the big one that derailed Reese's
comeback hopes. As Hirschman and Co. came
back from celebrating, the celebrating turned
into bad news when they discovered that they
were flagged for a block in the back. It
was a heartbreaker. from 32 - 12 and
counting the minutes down to victory to here
comes that Reese offense again to trying to even
things up. It was a catalyst for the
Rockets and a downturn for the Huskies.
On the last play of the 3rd quarter Oldenburg
optioned to Kevin Bauer and he Bauer sprinted
ahead for 65 yards on the option and narrowed
the lead down to just 5 points after the two
pointer was successful. The Rockets and
their faithful were just beside themselves with
emotion. The Huskies who just a few
series' ago had what seemed to be an
insurmountable league, were now in danger of
loosing their control for good. Hemlock
got the ball back and needed at least one first
down to slow the momentum train on the opposite
side of the field. Things took a turn for
the worse as Keyser dropped back, locked on to
Wagoner and tried to get it to him. The
ball sailed high and almost in the same
instance, Zach Heinlein laid a tremendous hit
out on Wagoner. Mitchell's helmet was
knocked off and he was shaken up. #23
would not return for the rest of the game, a
huge blow to Hemlock's ability to stave off the
Reese comeback. After failing to net a
first down the Huskies punted away again.
Heinlein grabbed the punt and took it well into
Husky territory to the 31. On 3rd and 2
from the 23, the Husky coaching staff called to
the defense, that the sneak was coming. It
came, unfortunately, there was nothing the
Huskies could do about it. With momentum
on their side, the Rockets plowed ahead for
another chunk of yards and a first down.
After a few more carries from Corbin, Stephan
finished the job with a 9 yard plunge straight
up the gut. The two hooked up for another
successful two point conversion as Reese assumed
a 3 point lead.
Hemlock who couldn't be stopped early on, failed
to move the chains on the next possession and
were forced into a punt. With over 5
minutes remaining, the Huskies would most likely
need a turnover to reclaim possession and get
another crack at taking the lead. With
5:24 remaining in the contest, their prayers
were answered as Reese coughed it up and the
Huskies pounced on the ball, taking over in
Reese territory. Forced with a 4th and 5,
Keyser dropped back and then saw Cory Pitt open
in the middle of the zone. The slick ball
went right through Pitt's hands and so did
Hemlock's last legitimate chance to even things
up. There was still 3+ minutes remaining
on the clock but they needed a stop and couldn't
afford any first downs by Reese. Reese was
unable to oblige and a few first downs later, it
was victory formation time.
The idea of Reese winning the trophy was almost
unfathomable in the first half and early on in
the second after the way that they had played.
As Reese sat and listened intently to their
coaching staff in the post-game speech, the
staff relayed to them that the first half was
probably the worst defense that they have ever
seen at Reese and on the flipside, the 2nd half
defensive effort was probably the best defensive
effort that they had seen at Reese. It was
night and day for both sides. One thing is
for sure, this game and the score were what most
people had in mind when the pairings were
announced. Both are conference favorites
are have the potential to do some great things
in the playoffs. This game should serve as
a building block for both teams onward towards
the rest of the season. Reese's character
shown through tonight. That same test will
be given to Hemlock next week as we will see how
they can bounce back from a devastating loss and
take on a huge rival at Bullock Creek.
Reese will most likely have a little easier time
with their next opponent, facing Bad Axe on the
road, Thursday.
Those who were part of this game will have a
hard time forgetting what transpired this
evening, on both sides and for different
reasons. The game brought an exciting end
to opening weekend of high school football here
in Mid-Michigan. Next week the feature
games will be Holt @ Davison on Thursday and
Orchard Lake St. Mary @ Grand Ledge on Friday
night. |
