It’s already week 4 of this shortened 6-game season. Thus far has been dominating in their first
three games outscoring their opponents 157-41 with their narrowest margin being
the 26 point win over Grand Ledge in week 2.
This was even with playing perennial powerhouse Portland in week 1. But this week would mark a significant hurdle
as the Panthers come up against the Pilots of Warren De La Salle. The Pilots play in the very difficult Central
division of the Catholic League. Even
though they come into the game 1-2, their losses to Birmingham Brother Rice and
Novi Detroit Catholic Central were by 2 and 4 points respectively. They are a tough team that has made it to the
playoffs 12 of the last 15 years.
DeWitt wins the coin toss and defers to the second half
giving De La Salle the first possession.
After a quick 3 and out the Pilots are forced to punt. The Panthers block the punt giving them the
ball on the Pilot’s 9-yard line. De La
Salle’s defense comes out strong and forces DeWitt to settle for a 23-yard
field goal to go up 3-0.
After the kickoff the Pilots once again go 3 and out and
forced to punt. DeWitt takes over at
midfield. In five plays DeWitt scores on
a 19-yard pass from Tyler Holtz to Tommy McIntosh with Brandon Soltis adding on
the extra-point to go up 10-0 with 7:33 left in the first quarter.
The third possession for the Pilots goes much the same way
as the first two, three plays and put back to DeWitt. The drive lasts eight plays and 43 yards and
culminates in 18-yard pass from Holtz to Luke Bresser. Brandon Soltis’s kick goes wide left making
the score now 16-0 with 2:52 left in the first quarter.
De La Salle’s fourth possession is there best so far going
60 yards in 8 plays only to stall out early in the second quarter. The Pilot’s field goal attempt is no good and
DeWitt gets the ball back on their own 20-yard line. On the first play Holtz connects with
McIntosh again for an 80-yard touchdown, 50 of which came after the catch. With the extra point DeWitt goes up 23-0 with
11:44 left in the half.
The game appears to be firmly in the Panthers grasp. De La Salle has another 3 and out and again
punts back to DeWitt. The Panthers drive
90 yards on 13 plays to score yet again, this time on a 26-yard pass from Holtz
to Bresser. Another Soltis extra point
and the Panthers go up 30-0. This is the
most any team has scored against the Pilots yet this season and the Panthers
have done it with 2:17 still left in the first half. De La Salle has one last possession in the
half. They manage 8 plays before attempting
and making a 50-yard field goal to end the first half with the Panthers up 30-3.
DeWitt has the first possession of the second half and goes
75 yards in five plays scoring this time on a 21-yard run by backup quarterback
Grant Uyl. The passing two point
conversion fails making the score 36-3 with 9:42 left in the third
quarter. The Pilots once again punt back
to DeWitt after failing to get a first down.
DeWitt puts together one of their longest drives yet (7:58)
going 80 yards in 13 plays ending in a 32-yard touchdown run by Holtz with 50
seconds left in the third quarter. With
the extra point this puts DeWitt up 43-3, which means there is now a running
clock. This is the first time this has
been done to De La Salle since September 13, of last year when Old Redford beat
the Pilots 51-0.
With the running clock the last quarter goes quickly. The Pilots go 26 yards in 4 plays before
punting on their next series. DeWitt
only makes 9 yards on the next drive before turning the ball over on
downs. This would be DeWitt’s only
non-scoring drive of the night. De La
Salle’s last drive goes strong, but with the running clock against them they
run out of time before they can get to the endzone.
The time of possession for each team is roughly even in the
game, but the real difference is in yardage.
De La Salle only managed 149
yards, 57 through the air and 92 net yards on the ground, averaging just 3.3
yards per play. DeWitt racked up 448
yards, 310 through the air and 138 on the ground. Tyler Holtz completed on 13 of 18 passes for
four TD’s. Three of the receptions for
137 yards were to Tommy McIntosh with two TD’s.
Another four were to Luke Bresser for 66 yards and another two TD’s. Tyler Holtz had eight carries for 53 yards
and one rushing TD and Grant Uyl had 25 yards on 3 carries and one TD. Defensively for the Panthers, Nick Flegler
had five tackles and a blocked punt on the opening drive of the game for the
Panthers. Chase Bolling had five, Andrew Debri five, and Connor Porchert five.
DeWitt is now 4-0 on the season and travel to Lansing
Waverly to take on the Warriors (1-2, 2-2) for the last league game of the
regular season. Warren De La Salle drops
to 1-3 overall and travel to Harper Woods to take on the Pioneers who are
currently also 1-3.
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