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The Red Raiders got on the board first, scoring at 9:36 of the second quarter on a 49 yard pass from quarterback Austin Comment to Daniel Gyomory. For the two-point conversion, Comment hit John Bishop in the endzone to take an 8-0 lead.

The host Bulldogs roared back, scoring on a 41 yard Ryan Humpert TD scamper. The two-point run was no good, making it 8-6 Marlette.

On the next Red Raider possession, the 'Dawgs forced the visitors into a punting situation, and Zach Weisbarth was credited with a blocked punt. Justin Hedrich scooped up the ball and returned it to the Marlette one yard line. Quarterback Brian Halas then punched the touchdown in, and added the two-point conversion for a 14-8 lead with 6:32 left in the half.

The Bulldogs weren't finished with the second quarter, either. At the 3:56 mark, sophomore Dugan Roosa scored on a three yard run. Humpert ran in the conversion for the 22-8 lead.

The Raiders responded just 17 seconds later with a 72 yard TD pass from Comment to Bishop. The two-point try failed, making it 22-14.

But the 'Dawgs weren't done, either, scoring again before the half on an eight yard run by Humpert with 17 ticks left. Humpert added the two-point play for a 30-14 lead.

On the ensuing kick-off, Comment scorched the St. Charles special teams for an 82 yard TD return. The two-point attempt failed, making it 30-20 at the half for the Bulldogs.

In the third quarter, Comment made a statement, scoring at 4:18 on a 37 yard run up the gut. The two-point play failed, but the St. Charles lead was cut to 30-26.

Comment scored again at 2:02 on a five yard run. His two-point run for the conversion gave the Raiders a 34-30 lead.

In the fouth quarter, the 'Dawgs battled back, scoring on a two yard run by Humpert with 7:36 left. The conversion failed for the 36-34 final.

With two minutes left to play, Marlette had the ball deep in St. Charles territory on a third-and-three play when a bad snap backed the Raiders up. On fourth down, they tried a reverse, which the Bulldogs stifled. That allowed St. Charles to run out the clock for the win.

"They came prepared to play," St. Charles coach Bob Welzein said of his opponent. "It's not that we weren't prepared, but Marlette took advantage of some of our weaknesses. We'll have to eliminate that if we want to continue on through the post-season."

Welzein added, "Our kids played with a lot of heart tonight. They shut Marlette down on that last drive, when they could have easily given up a score."

The Bulldog offense finished the night with 267 yards off 47 carries on the ground, and another 10 yards on 1 of 2 passing for 277 yards of total offense.

Humpert was the horse for the night, picking up 189 yards in 25 attempts with three TDs. Halas had 29 tough yards in seven carries.

"Brian didn't have a lot of big runs, but he picked up some key tough yards for us on third and fourth downs for first downs," Welzein said. "He had a good performance for us tonight."

The Raiders went for 165 yards on the ground, and another 146 through the air on 4-6 passing by Comment, for 311 yards of total offense.

Comment had a huge game for Marlette, going 94 yards in 19 carries with two TDs, a kick-off return for a score, two passing touchdowns and a conversion.

Humpert led the Bulldog defense with 12 tackles. Spencer Davenport snagged 11 tackles. Travis Crane had eight tackles and two caused fumbles.

Hedrich also had eight tackles with a fumble recovery. Matt Schalow had seven tackles.

Next up for the 'Dawgs in arch-nemesis Nouvel Catholic Central, a 22-14 winner over Reese in the other bracket of the district. Game time was not announced at press time, but the Bulldogs will host.

"Nouvel will be a huge challenge for us," Welzein admitted. "We have not fared well against them in the past."

Ram football season ends at Millington, 34-26

MILLINGTON - An 8-1 regular season record and a GAC-Red co-championship was accomplished by Montrose's varsity football team this year, but those achievements provided little consolation for the players and coaches at the end of Friday's 34-26 loss at Millington in the opening round of the state play-offs.

"I can't fault our effort, but our execution wasn't as good as it had to be against a quality team like Millington," commented Ram coach Dennis Reinhart after the game. "It hurts more to lose when you know you could have played better. I'd rather just get beat than to give the game away."

A large part of Reinhart's frustration comes from the nine penalties his team committed, several of which were procedure calls. Those penalties, plus two turnovers at key moments of the game, were instrumental in ending the season for the Rams.

"The third quarter was a killer. We come out of the locker room with a 20-14 lead and promptly turn the ball over twice at the worst possible time," Reinhart said.

The game started off with plenty of promise as Montrose took over on downs after a sustained drive by Millington stalled at the Montrose 39 yard line. The Rams converted on two third downs and a fourth-and-one before Cody Groulx capped the 61-yard, 11-play drive with a three yard run to pay dirt nine minutes into the game. The PAT was missed, but a roughing-the-kicker penalty enticed Montrose to try for the two-point conversion from one-and-a-half yards out. The two-point run was stuffed just inches short of the goal line, but Montrose still led, 6-0, with 2:57 to go in the opening period.

Millington wasted little time before retaliating as the host Cardinals drove 65 yards on seven plays and scored on a Corban Stewart six-yard run with 13 seconds to go in the quarter. The PAT was good and Millington led, 7-6.

Millington chewed up 76 yards on just six plays on its next possession and Cardinal QB Dustin Griesing completed the drive with a 26-yard keeper. The PAT was good to give Millington a 14-6 advantage with 8:05 to go before intermission.

Groulx broke loose for a 75 yard score with 5:04 to go, however, and James Person ran in the two-pointer to knot the score at 14-all.

On the ensuing kick-off, Cory Hargraves fell on a loose ball. Moments later, Groulx scored again, this time from 17 yards out. The two-point conversion failed, but Montrose headed into the locker room with a 20-14 lead.

After a fumble on the opening possession of the second half by Montrose, Griesing capped a short drive with a two-yard QB keeper. The extra point put Millington back on top, 21-20 at 10:03 of the quarter.

On what was likely the most important possession of the contest, the Rams found themselves in a second-and-goal from the two yard line. Two penalties pushed the Rams back and Millington picked off a pass on the next play to stymie the Rams' best chance to regain the lead.

The Cardinals gave themselves some breathing room by scoring midway through the fourth quarter, going ahead, 28-20.

With less than four minutes to play in the game, Montrose was forced to gamble on fourth down and failed, setting up Millington with another short-field opportunity. Griesing took advantage by scoring on a 36-yard scramble and Montrose trailed 34-20 with just 2:28 left.

Montrose responded quickly as Groulx scored on a four-yard run to make it 34-26. The on-side kick failed, however, and Millington easily ran off the final 57 seconds of the contest to advance to the second round of the play-offs.

Both teams moved the ball well on offense, with Montrose amassing 389 total yards to 433 for Millington.

Groulx churned out 164 yards on 17 carries and Person gained 66 yards on 10 attempts. Jeremy Fondren caught three passes for 42 yards and Joe Lamay pulled in two aerials for 51 yards.

Defensively, Derek Elston had 16 tackles to lead the Rams. Marvin Boswell had 14 stops and Zach Kuzniar had a dozen tackles.

Despite the loss, Montrose finishes its 2007 campaign with an 8-2 overall mark and a co-championship in the GAC-Red.

Hornet gridders rush past Webberville, 28-14

WEBBERVILLE - The running tandem of Tom Wenzlick and Ryan Praski proved too much for undefeated Webberville last Friday as New Lothrop's varsity football team pounded the host Spartans into submission, 28-14.

Jake Emmendorfer's Hornets took the first step towards defending their state championship by grinding out 315 yards on the ground in the opening round of the state play-offs.

The final score did not fully reflect the dominance of New Lothrop in the contest as the Hornets lost a pair of fumbles at their opponent's one-yard line during the contest. Despite the two costly turnovers, New Lothrop still seemed to be in command from the onset. The Hornets went on a nine-play, 74-yard march on their opening possession, culminating the drive on a one-yard scoring run by Wenzlick. Praski rushed for 51 yards on five carries to set up Wenzlick's pay dirt plunge, and despite a blocked extra point, NL was up, 6-0.

Later in the first quarter, New Lothrop went on another sustained march, covering 76 yards in 11 plays. Praski scored on a three-yard run, and after Wenzlick's two-point conversion, the Hornets led, 14-0.

Webberville responded with its longest drive of the game early in the second quarter, connecting on a 28-yard scoring pass that completed a 68-yard march. The successful PAT drew the Spartans to within 14-7 with 10:16 still to be played in the second quarter.

New Lothrop lost a golden opportunity to bump its lead back to a two-touchdown advantage, but fumbled the ball at the Spartan one-yard line.

The 14-7 score remained throughout the third quarter as New Lothrop once again fumbled one yard from pay dirt to keep the game close. Finally, at 8:01 of the final stanza, NL put together a 68-yard scoring drive, punctuated by a four-yard run from Wenzlick. Kyle Moore kicked the extra point to give the Hornets a 21-7 lead. Wenzlick carried the ball eight times during the drive and a 28-yard Praski-to-Jason Henige pass helped set up the score.

Down by a pair of TDs, Webberville was forced to gamble on fourth down on its next drive and turned the ball over to the Hornets at the 34-yard line. Five plays later, Wenzlick bolted in from five yards out to put the game out of reach with 5:36 remaining on the clock. The Moore extra point made the score 28-7.

Webberville scored an inconsequential TD with eight seconds left in the game, but the Hornets headed for home with an impressive first-round win against an undefeated opponent.

Wenzlick was a workhorse for the Hornets, toting the ball 31 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Praski gained 137 yards and scored once on 23 carries. Praski also completed seven of nine passes for 81 yards. His favorite target was Henige, who pulled down three aerials for 42 yards and a score.

The Hornets picked up 24 first downs in the contest while holding Webberville to just 10. Meanwhile, New Lothrop rolled up 396 total yards of offense to 285 by Webberville. Moore anchored the NL defense with 10 tackles, two for a loss. He also picked off an interception and returned it 23 yards. Trevor Vincke, Praski and Keith Perizzolo each had six tackles, with Vincke also recovering a fumble.

The 7-3 Hornets will continue their trip down the tournament trail when they travel to Fulton-Middleton this Friday for a district championship showdown with the Pirates.

Tribe gridders ground out first round win over 'Muth

FRANKENMUTH - Up against a Frankenmuth team with a single loss and an eight game win streak, the 6-3 Chesaning varsity football team came in looking for an upset win Friday night in the first round of the Division 5 playoffs.

That wish was fulfilled when the Indian gridders ran in two touchdowns in the second quarter on their way to a 12-3 win over the Eagles.

After a scoreless first quarter, Michael Rowe blocked a touchdown pass attempt by the Eagles on a third down. Frankenmuth's Nathan Crafft then kicked a 29 yard field goal to score the host's only points in the contest, at 9:23 of the second quarter.

On the ensuing kick-off, the Eagles buried the ball in the endzone for a touchback, putting the Indians in business at the 20 yard line. The Eagles intercepted an errant pass, but the Chesaning defense stiffened, forcing Frankenmuth to punt.

Joe Bitterman got the Tribe on the scoreboard with 2:22 left in the first half with a three yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion run failed.

On the resulting kick-off, Bitterman whiffed the ball, sending a spinning slider to the Chesaning sidelines which teammate Cal Bishop recovered. That put the Indians in business on the 39 yard line.

Bitterman broke free for a 20 yard TD run, scoring with 42 ticks left on the clock. The two-point pass play failed.

The second half passed without either team scoring. Both teams were flagged in the third quarter -- the Indians for a late hit, and Frankenmuth for delay of game. The final minutes had the Indian defense pressing to stop the Eagles' attempts to even out the scoreboard.

The visiting stands thundered as the Indians took a knee with a minute left in the contest.

Chesaning finished up the night with 233 yards rushing in 46 carries. The Indians were also 3 of 8 passing for 68 yards, or 301 yards of total offense.

Bitterman garnered 167 yards on the ground in 23 attempts. He also threw the three completions for the Indians. Justin Sweeney added 47 yards in 7 attempts.

Bishop hauled in all three receptions for the Tribe.

On defense, Rowe hauled down 12 tackles, including five for a loss. David Hawes, Jaxon Wirgau and Sweeney recorded seven tackles apiece.

Next up for the Tribe is a spectre from the past -- Millington, fresh off a win over Montrose in the opening round. The Indians and Cardinals had some heated clashes in the late 1990s. At press time the game was slated for Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Millington.