Week 1 of the 2020 MHSAA football playoffs and the Panthers of DeWitt face off against the Mounties of Jackson Northwest. DeWitt comes into the game 6-0 while Jackson NW comes in 0-5. The Panthers have outscored their opponents 290-50 allowing only 9 points in the last 4 games while Jackson has been outscored 109-262 giving up 112 points in the last 2 games alone. Despite the wide-spread records and scoring history no game can be overlooked, especially in the playoffs where one mis-step can end your season quickly.
DeWitt had the first possession and after a long run on the
first play is negated by a penalty they score 4 plays later on a 9-yard run by Andrew
Debri. Nicholas Flegler tacked on the
extra point to go up 7-0 very quickly.
The Mounties go three and out to set the pace for how the game would
go. After the punt DeWitt starts their drive
on the Northwest 37-yard line. On a
fourth and 5 from the Northwest 32-yard line DeWitt scores for the second time
on a pass from Tyler Holtz to Tommy McIntosh.
With the extra point good again DeWitt goes up 14-0 now only four
minutes into the game.
After gaining only 2 net yards in 2 plays for the Mounties,
their pass is picked off and returned 25 yards by Andrew Debti for yet another
DeWitt touchdown with just over six minutes left in the first quarter. Not even halfway through the first quarter and
DeWitt is already up 21-0. This does not
look good for the Mounties first ever playoff appearance.
Northwest’s next drive is much longer, moving the ball from
their own 22-yard line all the way to midfield.
After a time out by the Mounties with 13.6 seconds left, they try one
last play in the first quarter only to be picked off again, by Tommy McIntosh
this time, and run back 54 yards for another Panther pick-6 touchdown as the
clock expires for the first quarter with DeWitt up 28-0.
After managing only 5 yards on the first 3 plays, Northwest
is forced to punt on a fourth and 5.
DeWitt starts their drive on their own 36-yard line. On the first play Tyler Holtz connects with
Andrew Debri for a 64-yard touchdown three minutes into the second quarter to
go up 35-0. If it was in the second half
they would have a running clock, but there is still about nine minutes left to
go before halftime.
Northwest once again fails to get a first down and is forced
to punt. This time the punt is returned
by Andrew Debri for the sixth touchdown of the game putting the Panthers up by
42-0. The Mounties bad luck continues
and they fumble the ball on the kickoff return and DeWitt recovers on the
Mounties 31-yard line. Right away Tyler
Holtz connects with Luke Bresser for DeWitt’s seventh touchdown of the
night. Unfortunately, the snap is bad on
the extra point attempt so the holder falls on the ball and the attempt is no
good. DeWitt now holds a commanding lead
of 48-0 with still almost 7 minutes left I the first half.
Northwest once again goes three and out before punting back
to DeWitt. The Panthers chew up yardage
on the ground using up the remainder of the clock in the first half making it
to the Northwest 26-yard line before the half ends.
Thankfully for the Mounties there is a running clock in the second
half which makes the half go much quicker.
DeWitt has in backup quarterback Bryce Kurncz for the whole second
half. The Mounties first possession goes
like many of theirs in the first half with a three and out. DeWitt’s first possession though goes
differently than their earlier ones as they drive 33 yards before fumbling on a
third and one from the Northwest 39-yard line to be recovered by
Northwest. Unfortunately, Northwest’s
good luck is short-lived as they turn the ball back over to DeWitt on a failed
fourth down conversion. DeWitt does much
better driving 44 yards, but turning the ball over on downs themselves on a
failed fourth down conversion on the Northwest 3-yard line.
The failed drives continue as the Mounties lose the ball on
a fumble only two plays into their next drive.
Two plays later DeWitt scores for the last time on 5-yard run by Bryce
Kurncz for the last touchdown of the game.
Brandon Soltis tacks on the last extra point of the game to push DeWitt
to a 55-0 lead with just one minute left in the game. Northwest only has time for one play, which
is only good for 4 yards, before time runs out.
This game was all DeWitt with the Panthers gaining 325 yards
in the game, 208 of it in the air, compared to Northwest’s 32 yards. DeWitt averaged 18.9 yards per pass and 4.9
run while Northwest only averaged 0.9 yards per play. The Mounties only made 2 first downs in the
whole game, both coming on third down conversions. There are relatively few penalties in the
game with just 2 against the Panthers for 10 yards and 2 against the Mounties
for 30 yards. The Mounties had 4
turnovers in the game, 2 lost fumbles and 2 interceptions, both returned for
touchdowns. All in all, a very dominant performance
by the Panthers.
The Panthers, now 7-0, move on to the second round to face Lansing
Waverly next week at Memorial Stadium in DeWitt. This will be a re-match of the week 5 meeting between
the two team at Waverly which the Panthers won 47-0. The Warriors beat the St. Johns Redwings 39-7
to advance.
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