Schoolcraft Eagles soar into playoffs

By Mark Blentlinger

With the MHSAA cutting team play to six games in the 2020 football season, every team will compete in the district championships. The regular season allowed teams to stretch their legs, but the Eagles stretched their wings. The Eagle offense has picked apart opposing defenses with pin-point passes from senior signal caller Alex Thole, allowing his receivers many yards, all supported by a powerful running game.

The Eagles have won the SAC Conference Valley Championship. Offensively, the team has scored 250 points, allowing opponents only 85, with 42 of those points coming from the trip to Chelsea which gave the Eagles their only loss of this season. The Eagles have accumulated 2,271 total yards of offense, while allowing the defense just 1,190 total yards.

Schoolcraft’s only loss during the regular season, 42-21, came at the hands of Divison 3 Chelsea, a much larger school compared to the Division 7 Eagles.

Thole and the offensive attack still had 337 yards with 301 coming through the air. It took until the second quarter before the visitor side of the scoreboard added points with a 32-yard interception by Jimmy Downs. Alex Thole went 19/38 on passes, with three interceptions and two touchdowns. Sophomore Tagg Gott led the Eagle rushing attack with seven attempts for 28 yards.

Regular season ended with the Eagles winning the last three games. First was at Saginaw High School where the Eagles blanked the Trojans 55-0, keeping Saginaw to 18 yards of offense. Lawton then visited Roy Davis field with the hopes that the Blue Devils could end a three-game losing streak to the Eagles; however, Coach Ferency and the team kept Lawton to 14 points while scoring 45 for the home team with 452 total yards of offense. Thole went 11/22 for 189 yards, the first game since his sophomore year in which he didn’t throw a touchdown pass. Tagg Gott lead the ground attack with 19 carries for 137 yards and three touchdowns. Jimmy Downs had four catches for 105 yards, with Harmon DeVries snagging three for 44 yards.

For the last game before districts, the Eagles visited the Panthers of Delton Kellogg for a drizzly, cold game on the Panther’s new turf. The Eagles had 351 total yards, with 151 in the air and 200 on the ground. Leading the attack was Tagg Gott again with nine rushes for 85 yards. Thole had 10 rushes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Jimmy Downs followed up with five touches for 24 yards, hitting paydirt three times. Senior Jett Gott led the defense with five tackles and four assists. Fellow senior Carl Taylor added five tackles and six assists.

Post season has started throughout the state. The Schoolcraft team trounced Galesburg’s Rams, 53-6, on Oct. 30.

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