Sports
New Lothrop gets familiar opponent in district finals
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Friday, November 6, 2009 9:40 AM EST
NEW LOTHROP - It's become a familiar playoff rivalry.
New Lothrop (7-3) and host Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (8-2) will collide in a second-round Division 8 playoff game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The mere mention of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes to New Lothrop players immediately conjures up thoughts of past playoff games in the minds of the football team.
“It does - everybody definitely knows them,” New Lothrop coach Clint Galvas said. “They all remember that. They remember the name and that for two years they were kind of starting a little rivalry.”
The last time the two teams met came in 2006 in the Division 8 state semifinals. New Lothrop beat the Lakers 24-10, and the next week defeated Crystal Falls Forest Park 34-13 to win a state title and wrap up a perfect 14-0 season.
A year earlier, Waterford Our Lady had sidelined New Lothrop, 24-14, in the Division 8 quarterfinals. The Hornets led 14-7 at halftime, but the Lakers rallied and sent New Lothrop home with an 8-4 record.
“We're not as aware of it as the year we won the state title. We only have one player left over from that,” QB Tyler Bennett said. “But we pretty much meet up with them every year.”
The Hornets piled up huge numbers on the ground in last week's win over Sterling Heights Parkway Christian. Spencer Gross rushed for 168 yards on 13 carries. Jeremy Emmendorfer ran for 101 yards and two scores on seven carries. Austin Severn had 95 yards on eight tries while Bennett rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries with five scores.
“The offensive line is why we're rushing for so many yards,” Galvas said. “We broke the school record for rushing yards and that's a tribute to those kids on the offensive line.”
Waterford Our Lady is coming off a dramatic 30-28 victory over Deckerville in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers (8-2) needed a 20-yard field goal by freshman Jake Doetsch with no time showing on the clock to beat the Eagles (5-5) last Saturday in Waterford.
“It was crazy,” Galvas said. “It was back and forth the whole game and it could have went either way.”
Deckerville had taken a 28-27 lead with 1:16 left with a touchdown and a successful 2-point conversion. But Waterford drove 67 yards with the big play being a 50-yard pass from Mike Sullivan to Anthony Caiozzo down the right sidelines. Waterford Our Lady then spiked the ball to set up the winning kick, which narrowly squeezed through the goalposts.
“They do a very good job mixing it up - they run and pass very well,” said Galvas. “I think that's what makes them good because they do both. They run that spread. I'd say their base set is that spread look but they run the ball as much as they throw. You never know what they're going to do and (Mike) Boyd is obviously a fantastic coach.”
Waterford has been able to both run and throw.
“Their running back is a very quick and very fast,” Galvas said. Watching the films, he's torched a lot of teams. Their quarterback throws a good ball and they got a lot of good receivers. They have a lot of athlete. And they're also very, very big up front. Their offensive and defensive lines poses problems for a lot of teams.”
Since New Lothrop has played all of its games this season on Friday nights, with the exception of one game, the Hornets have adjusted their patterns slightly for Saturday's afternoon clash.
“We've adjusted a little bit,” said Galvas. “We've kind of bumped everything up and it kind of gives us an extra day of rest as well. We've been lucky enough to keep everyone healthy for the year because we do have low numbers.”