By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — In football, like in life, sometimes something unanticipated comes at you, and you need to learn to adapt on the fly in order to succeed.
After a scoreless first half in Friday’s Three Rivers-Plainwell tilt, Wildcats head coach Jeff Awe knew he needed to coach his team up on something they did not foresee with Plainwell’s attack.
“They gave us a different front that we hadn’t seen on film, so we basically coached the kids up at halftime and sealed all those leaks and started to attack their flats a little bit more,” Awe said. “We had an advantage there, and we took advantage of it.”
Those halftime adjustments worked out in spades for the Wildcats, as they scored three touchdowns in the second half to defeat Plainwell 21-7 on homecoming.
“It’s always good to win on homecoming,” Awe said.
Despite the scoreless first half, both teams had their opportunities to get on the board in the first two quarters. Working with a short field on their first possession of the game after a Three Rivers three-and-out in the first quarter, Plainwell drove all the way to the Wildcats’ 30-yard line and had a fourth-and-1 conversion opportunity, but a bad snap on fourth down shut down the Trojans’ drive and gave the ball back to Three Rivers.
Following that, Three Rivers began to march down the field and made it all the way to Plainwell’s red zone with three and a half minutes to go in the first quarter. Once there, though, quarterback Mason Awe was sacked for a loss of 11, then a false start on second down got them behind the chains for a second-and-26, and then a bad snap by the Wildcats on third down was recovered by Plainwell to give the ball back after what had been a promising drive.
After a Plainwell three-and-out, Three Rivers had another sustained drive stall in the Trojans’ red zone midway through the second quarter, as the Wildcats were unable to convert on a fourth-and-5 opportunity as LJ Hensley was stopped for a loss of two, giving the ball back to Plainwell on their own 15.
Both teams would drive into each other’s territory one more time each in the second quarter, but to no avail, making it a 0-0 game going into halftime. Plainwell would start the second half by driving into Three Rivers territory, but a block-in-the-back call on second down backed the Trojans up behind the sticks and eventually forced a punt.
Three Rivers would start at their own 20 after a touchback on the punt, and despite another sack of Awe on second down putting the Wildcats into a third-and-20 situation, Mason Awe would find running back Ethan Moreland for 23 yards for a first down. Awe would only have one incompletion in the quarter as the Wildcats capped off a 15-play, 80-yard drive for the first score of the game, capped off by a four-yard touchdown rush by Moreland to make it 7-0 with one minute to go in the quarter after Jacin Selent’s extra point.
Plainwell would drive into the Wildcats’ red zone on their next possession, making it down to the 6-yard line for a third-and-goal. On the next play, though, a bad snap past Plainwell’s Jacob Wright backed them up to the Wildcats’ 18-yard line and an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal gave the ball back to Three Rivers with eight minutes to go in the game.
The Wildcats would capitalize, going 82 yards in seven plays, capped off by a 16-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Brayden Carpenter, who deked a defender near the line of scrimmage and raced in to make it 14-0 after a Selent extra point.
Three Rivers’ defense would lock down on Plainwell’s next possession and force a turnover on downs, which once again the Wildcats would take advantage of eight plays later with a 19-yard rushing touchdown by Moreland to make it 21-0 Wildcats with just less than two minutes to go in the game.
Plainwell scored its lone points on its final drive of the game with a 46-yard touchdown run by quarterback Luke Filkins to make it 21-7 with just 18 seconds left. Three Rivers would recover the onside kick and kneel down to end the game.
Jeff Awe praised the effort his team had on both sides of the ball, and gave kudos to Plainwell for their performance.
“That’s a good football team, Plainwell’s a good football team,” Jeff Awe said. “There’s big, strong kids, good athletes in this conference, and I give that Plainwell team a lot of credit. They have a lot of fight.”
Three Rivers had 282 yards of total offense in Friday’s contest, while Plainwell had 213. While both teams had 168 rushing yards, Three Rivers had 114 passing yards to Plainwell’s 45. Moreland led the Wildcats with 93 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns; he also added 23 yards receiving. Carpenter had four catches for 51 yards and a touchdown, and Mason Awe was 15-for-21 passing for 114 yards and a touchdown.
With the win, Three Rivers goes to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Wolverine Conference. It is the first time since the 2018 campaign that Three Rivers started out undefeated through its first four contests. Jeff Awe said that’s the standard he has hoped to create at Three Rivers under his tutelage.
“It’s Three Rivers football; that’s the expectation,” Jeff Awe said. “We got a good group of kids, and we’re going to try to get another one next week.”
Three Rivers’ next game will be against 3-1 Vicksburg in the Battle for the Swine Bone at home Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
