Reed City quarterback Isaac Williams looks for a receiver against Kingsford on Saturday. (Herald Review photo/John Raffel)
REED CITY – It’s getting deeper in the playoffs and a little tougher to pull out a win.
Undefeated Reed City (8-0) faced a formidable Upper Peninsula foe in Kingsford on Saturday and was able to pull out a 32-14 Division 5 win.
The season ends for Kingsford (4-3) while Reed City will be at home against another 8-0 team, Kingsley, this Friday night in a Division 8 district title game.
Reed City led 16-14 at halftime.
The Flivvers had the early momentum. They scored on the first possession with Ben Rumpf running in from 20 yards out and Noah LaVarnway kicking the extra point.
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REED CITY – It’s getting deeper in the playoffs and a little tougher to pull out a win.
Undefeated Reed City (8-0) faced a formidable Upper Peninsula foe in Kingsford on Saturday and was able to pull out a 32-14 Division 5 win.
The season ends for Kingsford (4-3) while Reed City will be at home against another 8-0 team, Kingsley, this Friday night in a Division 8 district title game.
Reed City led 16-14 at halftime.
The Flivvers had the early momentum. They scored on the first possession with Ben Rumpf running in from 20 yards out and Noah LaVarnway kicking the extra point.
The Flivvers recovered the loose ball on a long onside kick at the Reed City 34 but couldn’t take advantage. Noah Jones put Reed City on the board with a 24-yard touchdown run early in the second and Alex Wirgau ran in for the two points. Landon Tomaski’s 67-yard touchdown run was nullified on a holding call. But Isaac Williams threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Seth Jackson and Wirgau ran for the two points and a 16-7 lead.
Kingsford scored before halftime on Mike Meneguzzo’s 13-yard pass to Zach Person. The PAT cut Reed City’s lead to two points.
The teams exchanged fumbles on consecutive plays in the third quarter but the other team couldn’t take advantage. Noah Jones had a 20-yard run to open a drive late in the third. Jones later had a 15-yard reception to the Kingsford 7 from Isaac Williams.
After an offsides penalty, Jones scored on a 4-yard sweep run with 53.8 seconds left in the third quarter. Tomaski scored on the 2-point run for a huge 10-point, two-score lead of 24-14.
Williams was 3-of-3 in passing and 72 yards.
“Obviously it feels great,” Williams said. “We came out flat in the first half. But the second half, we showed what kind of team we are.”
Jones added a 24-yard touchdown run with 6:27 left in the game. Xavier Allen passed for the two points to Joe Shewan for a 32-14 lead.
Reed City ran the ball 55 times for 358 yards. Jones had 15 carries for 159 yards. Tomaski had 18 carries for 101 yards, Payton Hansen had 10 carries for 91 yards.
Kingsley had 25 carries for 79 yards and had 121 yards in the air.
“They’re a pretty good team,” tight end Joe Shewan said. “We came out a little slow. But we picked it up enough.”
For Reed City on defense, Teddy Cross had eight tackles and Hansen had seven.
The Coyotes were 4-for-4 on 2-point conversions for eight of their points. They don’t use a placekicker.
“If you get two, you get two,” Shankel said. “We’ve been pretty successful with them. If you miss a two-point one time but get them the next time, you’ve regained your point. You just have to get them. We’ve been fortunate to get them all year.”
Kingsford entered the game with the reputation of being a perennial powerhouse.
“They’re a physical team as they have been for years up there in the U.P.,” Shankel said. “We knew it was going to be a war. That’s a good football team over there. We needed to trust in what we work on all week.”
