Lumen Christi beats Onsted
mike pryson, November 08, 2008 12:44 a.m.
Joe Williams, defensive coordinator for the Lumen Christi High School football team, set the tone for the Titans' district championship week last Sunday.
And what a tone it turned out to be, as the Titans topped previously unbeaten Onsted 42-7 for the Division 5 district title at Onsted on Friday. The Titans dominated the game from the opening kickoff and outgained Onsted 351-49.
Lumen Christi (9-2) will host Almont (9-2) next week at Withington Stadium in the regional, or quarterfinal round, of the tournament. Game time and day is to be determined.
"We have a word every day, and I told (coach Herb Brogan) on Sunday that the word for Monday was perfection," Williams said. "That was what we were trying to relay from the start of the week. We wanted to come out and play that perfect ballgame in all phases of the game."
Aside from an 85-yard kickoff return by Onsted's Carl Ream, it was mission accomplished for the Titans.
Onsted (10-1) was the No. 3-ranked team in the final Associated Press poll in Division 5. Lumen Christi was ranked No. 6. Those rankings didn't hold up in this one.
The Titans took the opening kickoff and drove 94 yards in 10 plays for the first score. Conor Sullivan scored on an 11-yard run to put Lumen Christi on the board.
Following a three-plays-and-out possession for Onsted, the Titans marched 70 yards on 13 plays with their second possession. Quarterback Sullivan rolled out on a fourth-and-goal from the 2 and hit junior Dylan Samon in the back of the end zone for the score.
"I thought we played our best game of the year," Brogan said. "I thought we mixed it up really well. I think we can throw it better than people think we can.
"I think we surprised them a little with our passing game, and we made two critical third-down conversions on that first drive."
The touchdown for Samon came on his first reception of the season for the Titans, who advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons.
"We've got a lot of kids, especially receivers that don't have many catches over the course of the year, but they've made big plays in important situations," Brogan said.
Lumen Christi extended its lead to 21-0 when it scored on its third consecutive possession of the first half. That 44-yard drive was set up by an 8-yard punt. The march took 10 plays and was capped by Nick Russler's 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down with 4:20 to play in the half.
Ream followed with his 85-yard kickoff return, and Nate Sanborn added the extra-point kick to make it 21-7.
That was as close as Onsted would get.
The Titans added a 1-yard run by Sullivan in the third quarter and touchdown runs of 1 yard by Russler and 8 yards by Michael Cremeans in the fourth quarter. Cremeans' run with 9:31 to play and Nick Kline's sixth consecutive extra-point kick gave the Titans their final margin of victory.
"Our offense kept their offense off the field," Williams said. "It's easy to play defense when your offense is going on long scoring drives and putting points on the board.
"We just kept telling them to keep the pedal on the gas and don't let up."
Lumen Christi ran off 62 offensive plays to just 27 for Onsted. Only the kickoff return for a touchdown prevented the Titans from racking up their fifth shutout of the season.
"Offensively, we didn't play as well as we could," Onsted coach Dan Terryberry said. "We had two of our starting linemen out there who weren't 100 percent, Nate Denig and Gauge Aebersold. Gauge hurt his knee Wednesday.
"I give them all the credit in the world for sticking it out. It's not an excuse. We didn't play great, and that team played really well. The scoreboard shows that."
mike pryson, November 08, 2008 12:44 a.m.
Joe Williams, defensive coordinator for the Lumen Christi High School football team, set the tone for the Titans' district championship week last Sunday.
And what a tone it turned out to be, as the Titans topped previously unbeaten Onsted 42-7 for the Division 5 district title at Onsted on Friday. The Titans dominated the game from the opening kickoff and outgained Onsted 351-49.
Lumen Christi (9-2) will host Almont (9-2) next week at Withington Stadium in the regional, or quarterfinal round, of the tournament. Game time and day is to be determined.
"We have a word every day, and I told (coach Herb Brogan) on Sunday that the word for Monday was perfection," Williams said. "That was what we were trying to relay from the start of the week. We wanted to come out and play that perfect ballgame in all phases of the game."
Aside from an 85-yard kickoff return by Onsted's Carl Ream, it was mission accomplished for the Titans.
Onsted (10-1) was the No. 3-ranked team in the final Associated Press poll in Division 5. Lumen Christi was ranked No. 6. Those rankings didn't hold up in this one.
The Titans took the opening kickoff and drove 94 yards in 10 plays for the first score. Conor Sullivan scored on an 11-yard run to put Lumen Christi on the board.
Following a three-plays-and-out possession for Onsted, the Titans marched 70 yards on 13 plays with their second possession. Quarterback Sullivan rolled out on a fourth-and-goal from the 2 and hit junior Dylan Samon in the back of the end zone for the score.
"I thought we played our best game of the year," Brogan said. "I thought we mixed it up really well. I think we can throw it better than people think we can.
"I think we surprised them a little with our passing game, and we made two critical third-down conversions on that first drive."
The touchdown for Samon came on his first reception of the season for the Titans, who advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons.
"We've got a lot of kids, especially receivers that don't have many catches over the course of the year, but they've made big plays in important situations," Brogan said.
Lumen Christi extended its lead to 21-0 when it scored on its third consecutive possession of the first half. That 44-yard drive was set up by an 8-yard punt. The march took 10 plays and was capped by Nick Russler's 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down with 4:20 to play in the half.
Ream followed with his 85-yard kickoff return, and Nate Sanborn added the extra-point kick to make it 21-7.
That was as close as Onsted would get.
The Titans added a 1-yard run by Sullivan in the third quarter and touchdown runs of 1 yard by Russler and 8 yards by Michael Cremeans in the fourth quarter. Cremeans' run with 9:31 to play and Nick Kline's sixth consecutive extra-point kick gave the Titans their final margin of victory.
"Our offense kept their offense off the field," Williams said. "It's easy to play defense when your offense is going on long scoring drives and putting points on the board.
"We just kept telling them to keep the pedal on the gas and don't let up."
Lumen Christi ran off 62 offensive plays to just 27 for Onsted. Only the kickoff return for a touchdown prevented the Titans from racking up their fifth shutout of the season.
"Offensively, we didn't play as well as we could," Onsted coach Dan Terryberry said. "We had two of our starting linemen out there who weren't 100 percent, Nate Denig and Gauge Aebersold. Gauge hurt his knee Wednesday.
"I give them all the credit in the world for sticking it out. It's not an excuse. We didn't play great, and that team played really well. The scoreboard shows that."
