By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
SCHOOLCRAFT — There is a saying that Constantine head coach Shawn Griffith tells his players when it comes to their rivalry with Schoolcraft.
“There’s only one thing more special than beating Schoolcraft, and that’s beating Schoolcraft at Schoolcraft,” Griffith said.
It took an extra frame of game time, but the 78th meeting of Constantine and Schoolcraft was one of the more thrilling ones in the series’ recent memory, as Constantine pulled out a 31-29 overtime victory at Roy H. Davis Field in Schoolcraft Friday to move to 3-0 on the season.
The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout, but was ramped up considerably late in the fourth quarter. Down 23-17 with less than 3:30 to go in the game, Schoolcraft drove down the field from its own 36-yard line down to the 32 of Constantine. Junior running back TJ Luteyn appeared to score the game-tying touchdown on a 32-yard run with just over a minute left, but the score was called back for holding.
That was no matter for Schoolcraft, as on the next play from the Constantine 38, sophomore quarterback Jack DeVries found a leaping Drew Enright on a deep pass to the end zone into double coverage to officially tie the game at 23 with 1:03 to go in regulation.
However, Constantine called a timeout before the extra point to ice the kicker, which paid off. Gavin Knowlton’s extra point doinked off the left crossbar, stunning the Schoolcraft fans and elating the Constantine crowd in attendance to keep the game tied.
“When they scored on that, my thought was, to be quite honest, three timeouts don’t do us much good with our style of football, so let’s try to ice the kicker. So, I ran down, called the timeout, we set something up and it didn’t work,” Griffith said. “Luckily for us, they got a bad break that the goalposts just aren’t a bit wider.”
Constantine then ran one play on the ensuing drive, then kneeled the ball to send the game to overtime. In overtime – played with each team getting a possession from the 10-yard line in each OT period – Constantine had the first possession and scored in two plays with a Brody Godfrey 5-yard rush up the middle. Cooper McGee then caught a pass from quarterback Brody Jones to complete the two-point conversion to put the Falcons up 31-23.
Schoolcraft then scored on two plays of its own, as Gavin Hart found the end zone on a 2-yard carry. On the two-point conversion to possibly extend the game, though, the Eagles tried a run play to the left side that was immediately sniffed out by defensive lineman Canon Manley, sending the Falcons into jubilation.
“I honestly thought they were going to put the ball in the air,” Griffith said. “We had some extra eyes on 33 [Gavin Hart]; they tried a trap, which they had a little bit of success with. Lucky for us, we happened to be also blitzing that particular gap on the play. Every play is huge when you’re in a game like this, so the kids came up big right there.”
Constantine scored first in Friday’s contest, as the Falcons bled out most of the first-quarter clock with its drive, capping a 78-yard drive with a 1-yard rushing score by Brody Jones on fourth and goal to put the Falcons up 7-0.
A couple of possessions later, Schoolcraft took over with 6:46 to go in the second quarter, driving down all the way to the Constantine 15-yard line. DeVries then threw a pass to wide receiver Brayden Boyes that was then popped up in the air, with Constantine’s Josh Bontrager coming down with the football for a turnover to end the drive.
Constantine would go three-and-out on its ensuing possession, ending with an errant snap on a punt attempt. Jones, the punter, still managed to get the ball away, but the Eagles had great field position at Constantine’s 24-yard line. They would capitalize four plays later, as Schoolcraft’s Cooper Howard found the end zone with 1:44 to go in the first half to tie the game at 7-7.
On Constantine’s ensuing possession after the touchdown, with the ball on their own 34, Jones threw a pass to the left side that Enright stepped out in front of, intercepted, and took to the house for a pick-six to put the Eagles up 14-7 with less than a minute to go in the half, a score that would hold up at halftime. Griffith, at the end of the game, admitted that he was still “kicking myself in the rear” for that play call.
“In their previous two games, most of their points come on big defensive plays giving them great field position. We didn’t have position, so I don’t know what I was thinking,” Griffith said. “Like I told the guys at halftime, sometimes it’s not on them, sometimes the old guys around here do stupid things too.”
The Falcons started with the ball in the third quarter, and capitalized on it in two plays, as Jones kept the ball and ran to daylight for a 76-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion attempt was good, putting the Falcons up 15-14. Schoolcraft would get a good return to the Constantine 30 off the kickoff, but stalled out in the red zone on its next drive, capping it off with a Knowlton 25-yard field goal to put the Eagles up 17-15.
A couple of possessions later, Constantine would take a 23-17 lead on a similar play to their previous touchdown run, as Godfrey ran for 48 yards for a score, capped off by a two-point conversion.
Overall, Constantine outgained Schoolcraft on the day, 260-211. Each team had three penalties and turned the ball over once.
Jones had 15 carries for 122 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Falcons, including going 1-for-3 passing for 31 yards and an interception, while Godfrey had eight carries for 64 yards and two scores. Bear Geibe had nine carries for 33 yards, and Cooper McGee had eight carries for 10 yards, plus the lone Falcon reception of the game for 31 yards. Jones had 10 tackles on the game, while Godfrey and Manley had seven, including the game-sealing tackle.
Griffith said his team rallied as a family, noting that one of his uncles passed away earlier in the week, which caused him to miss a day of practice in the rivalry week.
“Hats off to every one of these kids. Every one of these kids came in because they understood. It’s about more than football,” Griffith said. “I think this win showed what kind of family atmosphere we have in this program.”
For Schoolcraft, DeVries went 10-of-17 passing for 115 yards and a touchdown, while Luteyn went for nine carries and 30 yards on the day. Head coach Nathan Ferency said the roller coaster of emotions late in the game was “something you expect in a game like this.”
“You know it’s going to come down to the last play, the last minute. A lot of flags on us late there, and that was frustrating, and we still found a way to get one in with a minute left. We got to put that ball through the uprights to give ourselves a chance, and it didn’t go in,” Ferency said. “We come out in overtime, they get in, we get in, and it just came down to one play. That’s what this game’s all about, one last play, and we’ve got to figure out a way to make a few more and win the game. … It’s about execution and making plays when it counts.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
