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Browse by City/ StateAfter quiet first half, Troy comes to life to beat Romeo, 31-7
For pure entertainment value, the opening night nonleague matchup of Romeo at Troy was a yawner. Well, that was until the second half.
Troy QB Justin Losey runs up field in the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, he scored on a 17-yard run in Troy's 31-7 win over Romeo.
That's when host Troy scored every time it had the ball, picking it up for the home crowd and cruising to a 31-7 win over Romeo.
"You've got the first game of the year and two teams who aren't sure of what they have," Troy coach Gary Griffith said of the slower-paced opening half. "We felt like if we could hold them in check the first half, that we'd have a chance to get things rallied up -- get our offense clicking and put a little more pressure on them."
Troy got on the scoreboard with a 40-yard field goal by senior Lucas Blankenship at 6:10 of the first quarter.
Romeo followed that with a commanding drive that took 12 plays and covered 65 yards, ending with 2-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Ryan Burkard, who ran seven of the 12 plays. A point-after kick by senior Evan Simpson made the score 7-3, which stayed that way through halftime as the teams combined for six more punts.
After the break, momentum shifted and never swung back.
Troy (1-0) scored on all four possessions it had the ball. And Troy's defense held Romeo scoreless with four more punts to end each drive.
Troy opened the third quarter with a 78-yard drive that was capped by senior James McDonald's 2-yard run less than 3 minutes into the period. McDonald then lit up the night on Troy's next possession when he scampered 96 yards up the middle for a school-record touchdown run, just when it looked as if Romeo (0-1) had the Colts pinned back.
"The main thing was to get out of the back of the end zone, but I just popped up, found the hole and ran as fast as I could," McDonald said.
Troy next scored early in the fourth, the first time the Colts started a drive in Romeo territory. Sophomore quarterback Justin Losey, who shared QB time with captain Trevor Gilbertson, also went up the middle and scored on a 17-yard run with 9:51 remaining. The third of four Blankenship extra points was good for a 24-7 lead.
The last time Romeo punted, Troy's Anthony Robinson scampered 35 yards to return the ball to Romeo's 31-yard line. Soon after, senior running back Drew Beshara scored from 5 yards out.
"A lot of credit goes to our defensive line," said Troy linebacker John Matter. "They controlled all their gaps so the linebackers could fill the holes and make some tackles."
Assisting the defense was that everyBlankenship kickoff reached the end zone for a touchback, putting the opposition at the 20-yard line.
"That's huge for us," Matter said. "We can count on him whenever we need it to get the touchback."
By Tom Lang, special to the Free Press
Berkley 21, Ferndale 15: Terrell Porter had 149 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries for Berkley (1-0).
Birmingham Detroit Country Day 38, Chandler Park 0: Quarterback Josh Harris racked up 74 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Clawson 47, Bishop Foley 19: Josh Forsythe gained 81 yards and scored three touchdowns on 17 carries, and Steve O'Connell was 17-for-26 passing for 295 yards and two touchdowns for Clawson (1-0).
Consortium College Prep 52, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 16: Denzel Brown gained 102 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, and Devon Jackson had six receptions for 128 yards and three touchdowns for Consortium (1-0).
Crockett 43, Monroe St. Mary CC 28: Brain Blackburn went 13-for-15 passing for 223 yards and two touchdowns and added two rushing touchdowns for Crockett (1-0).
Dearborn Edsel Ford 47, Redford Union 6: Vincent Mercado rushed for 258 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries, and Adam Saadi ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns for Edsel Ford (1-0).
Detroit King 32, Brother Rice 19: Detroit Dennis Norfleet scored five touchdowns and a two-point conversion for King (1-0).
Detroit Loyola 32, Dearborn Heights Robichaud 6: Tyrone Jerrett rushed 101 yards and three touchdowns on four carries, and threw one touchdown pass for Loyola (1-0). Robichaud is 0-1.
Dexter 37, Garden City 16: Quarterback Mike Mioduszewski completed 15 of 29 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, both on receptions of 4 and 8 yards to wideout Travis Chaffee, for Dexter. Chaffee also had a 40-yard rushing touchdown.
Farmington 22, West Bloomfield 7: Neno Jones-Fletcher scored on a 2-yard run and a 25-yard catch for Farmington (1-0).
Farmington Hills Harrison 24, Novi 7: Thomas Vento threw for 134 yards and one touchdown to lead Harrison (1-0), and Kristian Malaj had 13 tackles. Krister Engja scored on a 2-yard touchdown run for Novi (0-1).
Highland Park 7, Lansing Everett 6: Lucas Barner was 10-for-24 for 114 yards with a touchdown to lead Highland Park (1-0). Tony Norris had 11 tackles and James Mills added 10 tackles for Everett (0-1).
Livonia Clarenceville 37, Bradford 0: Zack Kubiak threw two touchdown passes for Clarenceville (1-0), and Henry Seruga rushed for two touchdowns on eight carries.
Livonia Franklin 42, Livonia Stevenson 28: Brandon Tower ran for 109 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries for Franklin.
Macomb Lutheran North 21, Yale 6: Zak Bielecki had 16 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns to go along with one interception and 19 tackles for Lutheran North (1-0).
Michigan Collegiate 51, Cardinal Mooney Catholic 0: Alante Gardner rushed for 103 yards and one touchdown on eight carries and threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to David Johnson for Michigan Collegiate (1-0).
Milford 55, Waterford Mott 0: Drew Williamson ran for 173 yards and four touchdowns on nine carries, Nick Shatney scored two touchdowns, including a 75-yard kickoff return, and Luke Johnson threw three touchdown passes for Milford (1-0).
Pontiac 27, Southfield-Lathrup 16: Mark Cargill led Pontiac in rushing with 100 yards on 12 carries and scored a touchdown.
Riverview 14, Crestwood 6: Riverview running back Ali Fadd had 102 yards on 28 carries and one touchdown, and quarterback Matt Gibbons went 9-for-12 for 73 yards.
Riverview Richard 32, Detroit Urban Lutheran 8: David Ritchie threw three touchdowns on 6 of 8 passing and Josh Miller scoring one rushing and one receiving touchdown for Richard (1-0).
Rochester 28, L'Anse Creuse North 0: Senior Billy Klotz picked off two passes for the Falcons, who recorded their first shutout since 2002.
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest 56, Plymouth Christian 0: Matt Gapski had 12 carries for 235 yards and three touchdowns for Northwest.
Romulus 26, Oak Park 8: Terrell Sapp scored two touchdowns for Romulus (1-0).
South Lyon East 30, Waterford Kettering 27: Alec Sturos kicked the game winning field goal with 14 seconds remaining for East (1-0). Justin Santana rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries for Kettering (0-1).
Troy Athens 31, Warren Mott 19: Jake Duzey had 71 rushing yards, 49 receiving yards and one touchdown.
University Preparatory 44, Lutheran Westland 2: Senior quarterback Ron Riggs threw two touchdown passes -- one to his brother Jamal. Jamal Riggs also scored a rushing touchdown and one off an interception.
Walled Lake Northern 27, Livonia Churchill 24: Tyler Hoyt scored on a 55-yard run and on a 32-yard reception, and Ted Lilley had a rushing touchdown for Northern (1-0).
Wyandotte Roosevelt 39, Trenton 0: Running back Hunter Matt led Roosevelt, which had 414 yards of total offense, in rushing with 123 yards on seven carries and scored a touchdown. Roosevelt quarterback Mitchell Carrol threw for 129 yards and three touchdowns.
