By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
DECATUR—Chris Foley gave the Saugatuck faithful reason to cheer late in the first quarter of the Trailblazers’ Division 8 football district title game against Decatur on Friday, Nov. 8.
With Saugatuck trailing 8-0, Foley broke free for a 53-yard scoring run. The successful extra-point kick from Cam Lewis narrowed the Trailblazers’ deficit to a single point at 8-7.
Unfortunately, though, those would be the only points scored by Saugatuck as Decatur earned the 30-7 victory.
Saugatuck’s season came to a close at 7-4.
“That was a nice inside trap that Foley busted on that long touchdown run,” Saugatuck coach Bill Dunn said. “I think we caught them in a blitz that our kids handled up front. But you have to be able to make those plays for 48 minutes and we couldn’t do that and they did.”
Foley finished the game with a team-high 70 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Cass Stanberry went 6-for-14 passing for 55 yards in the loss.
Carter Miller and Norm Bos were each on the receiving end of three of Stanberry’s completions. Miller gained 32 yards, while Bos had 23 yards.
“It was a disappointing loss to the end of the season, but I’m proud of the kids for their effort and energy in the game,” Dunn said. “Other than the big run by Foley, it was difficult for us to gain any momentum throughout the game. Decatur did a good job of stopping our run game and establishing the run on their end.
“Ball control was a key in the game, and Decatur did a good job sustaining drives and moving the chains.”
Decatur started the scoring, with the Raiders getting an 11-yard run from Brody Mead on their opening drive. The successful conversion pass from Landon Rose to Mead gave Decatur the 8-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for Saugatuck to answer with Foley’s run, but the Trailblazers would get no closer.
“I feel bad for the kids,” Dunn said. “It’s always the case that one team or the other has to lose. We knew that, and we had high expectations coming in.
“But all credit to Decatur. They were physical tonight and played a great game. If I looked back, I’d probably say it was the physicality that was the difference. But our kids played hard all the way through for 48 minutes. Decatur was just better tonight.”
Decatur added to its lead on the drive following Foley’s TD run. It was Mead who did the honors again, scoring on a 2-yard run before Cameron Cropsey made good on the conversion run to make it 16-7 in the Raiders’ favor.
Saugatuck appeared to catch a break late in the third quarter when Decatur was driving, as the Trailblazers recovered a fumble with 2:26 left in the stanza.
But on the first play of the ensuing possession, Saugatuck had a fumble of its own that was recovered by Decatur.
The Raiders capitalized with a 15-yard touchdown run by Danny Camarillo with 9:01 remaining in the final quarter. Rose’s conversion pass to Landon Shugars was good, making it a 24-7 game.
“We just had a bad center-quarterback exchange on that fumble and Decatur was able to take advantage of that,” Dunn said.
Cropsey sealed Saugatuck’s fate with a 51-yard scoring run with 3:07 left in the game to up the lead to 30-7.
“We had an exciting season full of lots of good things and challenging games,” Dunn said. “The seniors did an outstanding job of leadership throughout the season, and posted another playoff-qualifying season with a winning record.”
In addition to scoring his team’s only touchdown, Foley also led the defense with 14 tackles. Stanberry had 10 tackles, while Bos and Max Page each had seven stops.
Bos also had an interception.
And while he’s disappointed with how this season ended, Dunn believes his program has a promising future ahead of it.
“We’re definitely on the upswing,” he said. “I think we’ve turned the corner the last couple of years, playing for a conference title and making the playoffs. We’re right there, now we just have to do the work in the offseason.
“We’ve got a good group coming back, so hopefully we can compete again next year.”
Thursday, November 21, 2024
