MANISTEE — A halftime
fireworks display illuminated the sky above
Saber Stadium on Friday night as Manistee
Catholic Central’s homecoming celebration came
to a close.Onekama,
however, had a few more explosions in store for
the third quarter.
The Portagers scored from
65 and 86 yards out in the frame to distance
themselves in a 28-13 victory over the
Sabers. Taking advantage of seven MCC turnovers,
and breaking for big plays on the offensive end,
gave Onekama (3-2, 1-0 WMD) the upper hand in
its West Michigan D League opener against the
Sabers (0-5, 0-2 WMD).
“That’s the objective:
winning this league,” said Portagers coach Jim
Hunter. “We didn’t think we’d be able to do it
if we lost tonight, so it’s a big win.
“But, we’re a long way
from done. You better believe Baldwin is coming
to our place next week looking to spoil our
homecoming too.”
Onekama quarterback Tyler
Johnson threw a pair of long touchdowns Friday
night — one for 50 yards, the other for 86 — on
3-of-9 passing for 140 yards. He added 45 yards
on the ground.
A rash of injuries claimed
a number of Portagers early, including their
leading rusher Jordan Coe on just the second
play of the game. Coe was sidelined the rest of
the night, but Jon Acton did more than carry the
load with two touchdowns and 126 yards on 12
carries.
“Kids really stepped up,”
Hunter said. “It was a rough night; we lost both
our starting inside linebackers, we lost our
leading rusher, and our key third back all in a
matter of minutes.
“Our backups had to step
up and play, and it just took them a little
while. I think the world of them right now,
though. That’s why they practice and that’s why
they’re always ready.”
Onekama recovered an
onside kick to open the night, but after its
drive stalled out, MCC was the first to strike.
Alex Carter, who led all
rushers with 201 yards on 22 carries, put the
Sabers up 7-0 on a 73-yard touchdown run, which
was his first of two, at 6:53 in the first.
The Sabers, however,
wouldn’t score again until late in the fourth.
Manistee
Catholic Central quarterback Ben
Feliczak picks up yards in the second
half. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)
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Onekama had
a tough time getting its offense going too until Johnson connected with
Randy Pienta at 5:55 in the second for 50-yard touchdown on
third-and-12. Johnson punched in the 2-point conversion on the ground to
give his team an 8-7 lead heading into the break.
The Portagers set the tone of the second half on the
first play from scrimmage.
Acton took the hand off from Onekama’s 35 all the
way to the end zone to make it 14-7 at 11:41.
On the ensuing drive, the Sabers ate up the field
on 13 plays, but quarterback Ben Feliczak threw an interception to
Pienta in the end zone on first-and-goal from the 9.
Feliczak finished 7-of-15 passing for 42 yards
with four picks, three of which were hauled in by Pienta.
The Sabers forced the Portagers into a
three-and-out, but lost the ball on a fumble on their next possession.
Onekama took advantage as Johnson found a
wide-open Jonas LaMont down field on third-and-10 from their own 14,
which was taken to the house for a 20-7 advantage at 1:26 in the third.
“Nice catches by some nice athletes, and well
thrown balls,” Hunter said of the big passing plays for scores. “That’s
part of the reason we run the offense we run. We spread the field on
you, and let our athletes play.”
The fourth quarter went scoreless most of the way
until Acton capped a 15-play drive with a 9-yard touchdown run for a
28-7 lead with 2:40 remaining in regulation.
“I thought our offensive line really started to
take over,” Hunter said. “That long drive not only scored, but took up a
ton of time too. The less they had the ball, the more comfortable we
were.”
Feliczak, who had 58 yards on the ground in all,
led a late rally with his legs that ended in a 15-yard touchdown run by
Carter to cut into the gap. With 1:03 remaining, however, the clock was
not on the Sabers’ side.
MCC recovered an onside kick, but two plays later
Pienta ended another drive with his third interception of the night.
“Basically kids did what they were supposed to
do,” Hunter said of the effort. “If they buy into it, like we keep
telling them over and over, we can win as a team. It’s easy to beat 11
individuals. It’s hard to beat a team.”
The Sabers were led defensively by Carter with 15
tackles while Jason Kaminski had nine and Feliczak eight. But big
plays — three from more than 50 yards out — proved to be the difference.
“I’ve got to compliment Onekama,” Sabers coach
Dave Russell said. “They played well. They played hard. It was a good,
close game; they just had a few long plays, when we weren’t quite ready,
that hurt us.”
The heartbreaker on homecoming leaves MCC still in
search for its first win.
“When you’ve got four, five losses you might lose
a little bit of your belief,” Russell said. “The kids didn’t quit — they
kept battling away — but we’ve got to find that belief factor one way or
another.”
Visit the
photo
gallery for more of Dylan's photos from this story.
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