Division 8 - Beal City Cuts Down Trojans 41-23
It was a beautiful November morning. While some people fought the crowds and searched for the Black Friday specials, some of us filled Ford Field for the state football championships. First up was Crystal Falls Forest Park and Beal City. Both teams have great tradition and have won a lot of games. They had smaller rosters and smaller players, but that doesn’t mean their brand of football is any less exciting. Beal City’s helmets reminded me of the Dallas Cowboy helmets; they were white with a royal blue star on them. Crystal Falls Forest Park wouldn’t look the same without their trademark black and white striped socks along with the black and red jerseys.
Beal City kicked off to the Trojans to start the game. The Aggies were able to pin the Trojans at their 17 yard line. That is where quarterback Christian Valesano broke the huddle and brought his team to the line of scrimmage. Beal City ran a six man front to try and contain 6’1†senior running back Josh Siler. It made a lineman like myself smile when Valesano was out blocking for his running backs. Slowly but surely, the Trojans moved the ball close to midfield. It was then that Josh Siler got smacked and coughed up the ball, which Kegan Rojas recovered. Then it was Rojas again who ran for 15 yards and got the ball down to the 17, where CFFP had originally started their drive. On third and five, Mark Gallinger ran off tackle left, but only gained four yards. With only inches left to go, the Aggies went for it and Stone Beckwick gained a yard and gave them first and goal from the 10. Finally, Rojas punched it in from the two yard line. The extra point made it 7-0 with less than five minutes left in the first quarter.
Again, CFFP couldn’t drive the ball and were forced to punt. They looked a step slower than Beal City and were not tackling well. Soon thereafter, the Aggies had another first and goal from the five yard line. Brian Bleise ran in the score on first and goal. Beal City was methodical on their drive. The offensive line opened huge holes for the backs to run through and they weren’t being touched until they got to the second level. Things were not looking good for Crystal Falls as they lined up to receive the kickoff. There was under nine minutes left in the half and they had hardly seen the Beal City side of the 50. Like their previous drives, the Trojans moved the ball to begin the drive, got close to midfield, and turned the ball over. This time it was Valesano throwing an interception. In his defense, the ball was tipped at the line. The Aggies were able to score a 40 yard touchdown run thanks to Brian Bleise’s speed and a couple of nice cuts. Just like that, Beal City was up 21-0 halfway through the second quarter. Beal City was doing a good job of filling the holes and not allowing CFFP to get much going on with their ground on offense. With two minutes left in the half, Josh Siler rumbled into Aggie territory and down to the 41. It only took them 22 minutes to get the ball on the other side of the field. Jake Maki picked up a first down on fourth and two that kept their drive alive. With 44 seconds and 19 yards left to go, Siler ran again and set up a third and one on the 15. Coach Bill Santilli called a time out to get the right play in and ensure they knew what to do because the first half was winding down fast. With only 18 seconds in the half and facing third down, Josh Siler punched it in from a yard out. He had 13 runs on the drive out of 17 plays and they drove 82 yards.
CFFP kicked to Beal City to being the second half. It was apparent that Beal City could get the corners on the Trojans, but the Trojans were always in the right spot. They were very good at getting to the sideline and cutting it back to the middle of the field when defenders over pursued. Rojas helped Beal City move the ball close to the red zone and they were able to burn a lot of the third quarter on their long drive. Facing a third and nine on the 22 yard line, quarterback Jared Theisen passed to Jake Hahn who got the ball down to the eight yard line. A penalty moved them back five yards and they again faced third and goal, this time from the nine, and moved got closer. Stopped on the three, they had fourth and goal, and Bleise got close to the goal, fumbled, and it was recovered by lineman Andrew Pohl in the end zone. Their two point attempt was no good. The drive lasted over nine minutes. That can’t be how CFFP wanted to come out of the half…giving up a touchdown on fourth down after an 80 yard drive that lased most of the third quarter. In my preview of the game, I mentioned 5’4†player Jed Mongar. He had some very nice tackles and lit up a few people and leveled one guy on the kickoff.
With a 19 point lead, Rojas took the handoff 45 yards to pay dirt on the first play of the fourth quarter. It wasn’t looking good for the Trojans, but Siler busted a 45 yard run down to the 25 yard line after the kickoff. Levi Oleksy followed up with a 13 yard run and got much closer to the end zone. Things were getting desperate for Crystal Falls; they had 26 points to score and only nine minutes to get them in. Michael Smithson took the pitch from the quarterback and threw a 10 yard touchdown to Josh Aberly. Siler then threw a two point conversion to Dan Renner but the Trojans still trailed by 18. The onside kick attempt was no good and Beal City took over on their 35 yard line. Shortly thereafter, Bleise ran in a score from 25 yards out for his third touchdown of the game. Beal City kicked off with the clock two ticks less than five minutes. The Trojans were able to score, but it was too little too late. They played a tough game but in the end, the speed and strength of Beal City overpowered the Trojans.
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