Lori the Ls are for bulletts when laying out section
Scott Keyes
Sports Scene
The season may be over, but it’s never a bad time to talk high school football . . .
OK, I’ll admit it. I didn’t think that Powers Catholic had a chance against Lansing Catholic in the Division 5 championship game. I didn’t think the Chargers could run the ball successfully against a stingy Cougars defense. I didn’t think quarterback Garrett Pougnet was good enough to attack Lansing Catholic’s secondary.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Powers beat the Cougars for the state title
Good luck, Powers.
I mean, Powers gave up 55 points to Nouvel Catholic Central in Week 1 and lost to Lansing Catholic 37-17 in Week 2. Who would have ever guessed that Lansing Catholic would have laid a 56-26 giant egg in the state finals. I know I didn’t. To be honest, there probably were not a whole lot of other people out there that would have thought it.
So, to sum up: I was wrong.
l When picking the Sports Scene Dream Team , we honored coaches Terry Hessbrook from Ithaca and Mike Boyd from Nouvel. In all honesty, Bob Buckel, the first-year coach at Powers, who took a 5-4 team all the way to the state final to won it, deserves all the credit it the world. One heck of a coaching job.
Note to athletic directors with itchy trigger fingers: If you have a good man and a good coach in charge, don’t let a couple of bad seasons influence your judgment. Stick with him. Good times will come.
l As for Brother Rice, another 5-4 team that sneaked into the playoffs and won a state title, hats off to legendary coach Al Fracassa. The Warriors, led by running back Devin Church, won a slug fest with Lowell, who was making its third straight trip to the Division 2 state final.
l With all due respect to the Lansing Catholic duo of Cooper Rush and Matt Macksood, Nouvel’s Bennett Lewis gets my nod for Sports Scene Player of the Year.
Lewis tallied over 2,000 yards for the Panthers and scored 36 touchdowns for the Division 7 state champs. Take Lewis away from Nouvel, and I’m not sure the Panthers win the state championship. Not taking anything away from the other guys on the Nouvel team, but Lewis is that good, and he will make any team happy at the next level.
l Futhermore, you can’t help but like a team like Ithaca. The two-time defending state champion Yellow Jackets have Michigan’s longest winning streak at 28 games, and they are a blue-collar team with big dreams. Coach Hessbrook has taken this team to new heights, and don’t be surprised if Ithaca is back in 2012 looking to three-peat.
l The best moment of the season has to be Pewamo-Westphalia’s march into the Division 7 final and rally around the loss of Brendon Nurenberg. Personally, I never met Brendon, but what the coaches and teammates said is that he was one heck of a great guy. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Nurenberg family. The tragedy is tough and the P-W community is starting the healing process, but this run by the Pirates would have made Brendon proud.
Finally, a special thanks to the people that help make Sports Scene possible. The fans, communities, and student-athletes that make our job fun, enjoyable, and a way of life.
We love what we do and love bringing you a piece of happiness along the way.
Sometimes, the smallest of victories mean the most.