Game # 9 summary vs. Rochester Falcons-2006

Game time weather: 46 degrees, dry, clear and a slight breeze.

Allow me to set the stage; Senior night, Homecoming and playing the cross-town rival, the Rochester Falcons. Who could ask for more?

The Highlanders needed to win this final regular season game to advance to the playoffs. On paper, playing the 0-8 Falcons would appear to be no contest. However, football games are not won or lost on paper. The Falcons could spoil the Highlanders playoff hopes and compromise the Homecoming spirit with a win. Everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Before the Falcons took the field they were hit with a 15-yard penalty for delay of game. The Falcon’s attempt to un-nerve the home team by coming onto the field after the home team backfired.

Verville’s Kick from the Falcon 45-yard line went sailing over the end zone for a touchback. On 1st down, the shotgun snap went directly to the RB who bobbled the ball and barely recovered it. An 8-yard loss made it 2nd and 18. A short gain by Falcon RB Alan Sunn brought up 3rd and 16. Junior QB Billy Cribb’s pass was intercepted by senior captain Jake Wilson and returned to the 25-yard line.

The Highlanders 1st possession would start with a pass to senior SB Mark Hammett, good for 12-yards. From the 13-yard line on 1st down, senior FB Cory Hamilton picked-up 5-yards and added another 3-yards on 2nd down. Faced w/ a 3rd and 2, senior QB Jake Wilson scored a touchdown off the QB option. An illegal motion penalty on the P. A. T kick moved the ball back to the 8-yard line. Tom Casey showed his poise and leg strength when he made the 18-yard P. A. T.
Highlanders 7 Falcons 0

With 9:07 left in the 1st quarter, the Falcon offense put together an impressive drive that chewed-up 85- yards and 8 minutes. From the 15-yard line Falcon RB Sunn picked-up a 9-yard gain on 1st down. A fake reverse picked-up another 9-yards. DE Jake Heinrich stopped the Falcon RB for no gain on 2nd and 1. On 3rd and 1 the Falcons got a generous spot that allowed enough for a 1st down. From the 36-yard line Cribbs found Falcon receiver Cameron Neighbors for a 10-yard completion. From the 46-yard line Petrusha and McNamara stopped QB Cribbs for no gain. RB Sunn picked-up 13-yards and moved the Falcon’s past mid field, to the 43-yard line. On the move and a new set of downs, Cribbs pass to FB Nordstrom was good for a big 15-yard gain. After incomplete passes on both 1st and 2nd down, Cribbs picked-up 8-yards on a QB keeper. With the ball spotted inside the 20-yard line and facing 4th and 2, the Falcons picked up a big 1st down.

From the 16-yard line, senior DE Wayne Sanders stopped the Falcon RB for a 1-yard gain. With 3 receivers split to his right, QB Cribbs ran hard and picked up a 1st down. With less than 2:00 left in the 1st quarter, the Falcon RB blew through the defensive line and into the end zone for a touchdown. Cribbs P. A. T kick was “good”.
Highlanders 7 Falcons 7

With 1:04 showing on the clock, junior Adam Smith picked-up 15-yards on the kick return to move the ball to the 34-yard line. On 1st down, QB Jake Wilson pitched the ball to junior RB Josh Renel who would not be denied as he flew around the left corner and sprinted along the sideline. Renel’s stop-n-go move on DB Henning and a ferocious block by Schmidt, sent the RB in his way to a 66-yard touchdown run. Sweet run Josh. Casey’s P. A T kick was “good”.
Highlanders 14 Falcons 7

The second Falcon drive was important to see if their offense could maintain the momentum from their initial drive or would the Highlander defense adjust accordingly.

Verville’s squib-kick was returned to the 32-yard line. CB Adam Smith made a nice play to defend a pass to receiver C. Neighbors. On 2nd down the Falcons shovel pass play broke down when the ball was dropped by the RB. On 3rd and 10, Smith came through again and defended well on a pass to Joe Merlo. Nice Job Smitty…
 

Renel fielded the punt and ran for a 12-yard gain to advance the ball to the 47-yard line. The 2nd quarter started with QB Wilson picking-up 16-yards on the keeper/option play. On the ensuing play Wilson found daylight again and rambled down the field and into the end zone for an apparent touchdown. Unfortunately, a holding call on the Highlanders negated Wilson’s effort and score. With the ball at the 25-yard line, Josh Renel ran for 7-yards to bring up 2nd and 3. A Wilson QB option picked-up of 2.75 yards to make it 3rd and 6”.
Following the blocking of senior-center, Luke Hayden, Wilson picked-up the 1st down. Facing 2nd and 7 from the 10-yard line, senior FB Cory Hamilton took it to the house for another Highlander touchdown.
It was; snap-hold-kick for the P.A.T unit as the ball split the uprights.
Highlanders 21 Falcons 7

On the Falcons 3rd possession of the contest the Highlander defense adjusted to the Falcon attack. DE Greg Ornazian “blew-up” a hitch pass that resulted in 9-yard loss. Awesome play Orno! The Falcon pass on 3rd and 19 was incomplete. There was no return on the short Falcon punt.
The Highlander offense started the next possession from great field position, at the 39-yard line. Renel picked-up 5-yards on 1st down. Facing 2nd and 5, Jake Wilson threw a pass to wide-open SB Renel who made a leaping catch at the 7-yard line. After two running plays that moved the rock down to the 3-yard line, Wilson took the QB Keeper into the end zone once again. The P. A. T was “good”.
Highlanders 28 Falcons 7

The clocked showed 6:00 left in the half as the Falcon offense went back to work. The Highlander defense led by seniors Wayne Sanders and Joe Bernard made a big play and stopped the QB for a 2-yard loss. A 3rd and 7 pass to Falcon receiver Cameron Neighbors was incomplete and they were forced to punt.

The Falcons punt went out-of-bounds at the 44-yard line. The Highlander offense took over with 3:55 left in the half. After no gain on 1st down, Wilson’s pass to Cody Wilson resulted in a pass interference penalty that gave the Highlanders a 1st down at the 41-yard line. After loss of 2-yards on 1st down, Wilson hit Renel again for a solid 15-yard gain. After two Wilson QB option / keepers that netted 1 yard, on 3rd and 9 the reunion of Wilson to Wilson returned. Jake found Cody in the right corner of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown pass. QB Wilson stood in the Pocket and took a hard shot to deliver a strike to the receiver. Senior leadership exemplified. The P. A. T was “good”.
Highlanders 35 Falcons 7

The 6th possession for the Falcons offense started with 1:52 left in the 1st half. Cribbs passed to Henning and Neighbors coupled with a well executed QB Keeper moved the ball to the 44-yard line. Junior CB Adam Smith continued his exceptional pass defense as he came through on 2nd and 3rd downs to stop the Falcon passing attempts.
Two roughing the passer penalties on the Highlanders allowed the Falcons to move the ball deep inside Highlander territory. From the 12-yard line, Cribbs pass to Henning was complete for a touchdown. Their P. A. T. kick was “good”.
Highlanders 35 Falcons 14

The half came to and end shortly thereafter.

The Highlanders received the kick-off to start the 2nd half as Mike "no-socks" Monahan returned the kick to the 27-yard line. It was a quick “3 and out” for the offense and the Highlanders had to punt for the 1st time in the game. Patten’s booming punt was covered by senior / captain Alex McClelland. McClelland flew down the field and knocked the ball out of Henning’s hands and was recovered by Dan Muncey at the 28-yard line.
On 1st down Renel was able to pick-up 8-yards off a nice block by Wayne Sanders. A short gain by Hamilton and a Wilson WB sneak picked-up a 1st down while moving the ball to the 16-yard line. After a loss of 5-yards on 1st down, Wilson’s pass to Renel in the left flat was complete. A late hit penalty on the Falcons moved the ball to the 11-yard line. Using ”fuzzy math” the referees determines that after a 15-yard penalty on a 2nd down play that it does not equal a first down, hmmm? This led to a 4th down play that Jake Wilson ran a QB option down to the 5-yard line and a 1st down.
With 1st and goal from the 5-yard line Renel took the sweep down to the 2-yard line. On the ensuing play Renel lowered his shoulder and blew the ball into the end zone for his 2nd touchdown of the night. Casey hit the P. A. T kick and it was “good”.
Highlanders 42 Falcons 14

Now with 6:37 left in the 3rd quarter, another touchback had the Falcons starting at their 20-yard line. On 1st down Jake Wilson almost intercepted the pass. On 3rd down DB Monahan defended the pass attempt and the Falcons once again were forced to punt the ball away.
The Highlander offense took over from the 36-yard line. SB Mark Hammett caught Wilson’s pass for a big 34-yard gain. An off sides penalty on the Falcons made it 1st and 5. Cory Hamilton picked-up just enough for the 1st down. An incomplete pass followed by a fumble that SB Adam Smith emerged from the pile with the ball was ruled Falcon’s ball.

The Falcons moved the ball on 1st and 2nd down and were able to get enough for a 1st down. From the 33-yard line CB Smitty “Jacked” the Falcon receiver after a 1-yard gain. The Falcons continued to move the ball on passes to receivers Henning and Neighbors. On 1st and 10 from the 45-yard line, CB “no-socks” Monahan broke up a pass followed by DE Joe Bernard stopping the RB for a loss of 2-yards. Faced with a 3rd and 12, Bernard put the pressure on the Falcon QB who threw a middle screen pass into the arms of LB Aaron McNamara. Highlanders ball at the 49-yard line. Great effort Joe and Aaron.

The Highlanders promptly gave the ball back to the Falcons when junior Dan Muncey lost the handle on the ball and the defense recovered it.
The Falcon offense once again moved the rock with Cribbs and RB Sunn picking up a 1st down. With the ball now at mid field , Sunn moved the ball down to the 38-yard line. Henning made a nice catch for another 1st down and the ball was spotted at the 28-yard line.
 

The start of the 4th quarter found the Falcons moving into the red zone with a pass completion. From the 15-yard line Cribbs scrambled to avoid an oncoming Highlander and fumbled the ball. Once again, “nose-for-the-ball” McNamara recovered the ball. Two turn-overs in the last two possessions, not bad!
It was “3 and out” for the offense after Renel’s short gain, a run for no gain and an incomplete pass to senior Mike Gansser. Patten’s punted the ball with 9:17 left in the game.
The defense held the Falcon offense to one 1st down after Greg Ornazian stuffed the FB for a loss of 4-yards on 2nd and 3. An incomplete pass on 3r down followed by a Josh Patten tackle on 4th down and the Falcons gave the ball back to the Highlanders.
The Highlander offense took over at the 44-yard line with sophomore QB Andrew Waszak at the helm. Running plays to FB’s Ornazian and Muncey moved the ball into Falcon territory. With 6:00 left in the contest, Waszak ran the QB option from the 25-yard line and into the end zone for the final Highlander touchdown of the game. Tom Casey’s P. A.T kick was “good”.

Highlanders 49 Falcons 14
The Falcon offence started their final possession from the 33-yard line. Tackles by sophomore LB Andrew Johnson and junior Aaron Gesquire slowed down the Falcon offense. On 2nd and 17 the Falcon’s scored on a long run and added the P. A. T.
Highlanders 49 Falcons 21
Josh Renel ran back the Falcon kick-off to the 50-yard line. From there the offense took a knee and ran out the clock.

-Econo pass $45
-Highlander spirit wear $68
-Nike Vapor jet football cleats $82
-Pay-to-play $140
-Beating the Rochester Falcons – PRICELESS!

Final score: Highlanders 49 Falcons 21

Congratulations to the coaching staff as well as the players who have qualified for the MHSAA play-offs. Your hard work, dedication and effort have paid off.
Now you have bigger fish to fry in taking on the 9-0 Davison Cardinals.
Believe in your heart that you can prevail. Where’re behind you all the way. GO Highlanders!

Dan R.