1st Half:
Marquette knocked off Mount Pleasant 21-14 to move on to the District Finals.Marquette started the game with the football, and couldn’t get much going in the running game with Austin Ridl and Brady Wright. The Redmen were forced to punt, and things got scary for the Oilers when E’Carves Polk fumbled the punt, but fell on top of it to keep possession. Mount Pleasant started its first drive of the game with good field position at midfield, and quarterback Ryan McIntyre led a good drive for the Oilers. Behind the strong rushing attack of Da-Vee Abinojar, Kory Davis and Mark Goenner, Mount Pleasant marched down the field in 13 plays where it capped off the drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown for Davis. Andrew Funnell made the extra point, and the Oilers led 7-0 with 4:15 left in the first quarter after a nearly six-miunte possession. After seeing its defense give up a touchdown drive, the Redmen offense once again couldn’t move the chains, and had to punt the ball back to Mount Pleasant. The Oilers began their next possession at their own 30-yard line, but the passing game of McIntyre couldn’t connect with any receivers downfield. After receiving the punt from Mount Pleasant, the Redmen converted a first down with a 14-yard run fro Desmond Mullen to its own 43-yard line before the quarter came to an end. At the end of the first, Marquette trailed Mount Pleasant 7-0.
End of 1st: Mount Pleasant Oilers 7, Marquette Redmen 0
Marquette kicks off to Mount Pleasant.On the first play of the second quarter, Marquette found some life with a 57-yard reverse pass from Kameron Karp to Jordan DeMay for the touchdown. Connor Johnson made the extra point, and this District Semifinal game was tied at 7-7. Mount Pleasant took the ball down the field once again by gashing the Redmen defense by running the ball. After riding the running game down to the Marquette 10-yard line, the Oilers’ offense was faced with a fourth down and four yards to go. Caden Schlicht took the handoff on a reverse for Mount Pleasant and he was met by multiple Marquette defenders short of the first down. The Oilers went on a 15-play drive for 70 yards, but the Redmen made a stand and didn’t allow any points. Marquette took advantage of the momentum, and picked up first downs behind the passing game from Ridl to Karp and Justin Jurmu. The first half was coming to end, and Ridl ran the ball six yards to the Mount Pleasant 16-yard line for a first down. On the next play, Ridl found David Eberhard for a 14-yard pass to the two-yard line with 40 seconds remaining. Wright found the endzone on the following play, and Marquette took a 14-7 lead with 35 seconds to go in the half after Johnson’s made extra point. At halftime, Marquette led Mount Pleasant 14-7 after a last second score in the quarter.
Halftime: Marquette Redmen 14, Mount Pleasant Oilers 7
2nd Half:
Mount Pleasant got the ball to begin the second half of play, and its offense continued to hum despite trailing by seven. Max Humphery sparked the drive with a big catch from McIntyre down to the Marquette 20-yard line. However, the drive was stalled by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and it set Mount Pleasant back to the 35-yard line. The Oilers could never recover from the penalty, and turned the ball over on downs back to the Redmen. Marquette couldn’t find much offense on its first drive of the second half, and had to punt the ball back to Mount Pleasant with 4:25 left in the third. The Redmen defense responded with a big play, stripping McIntyre of the ball, and it was recovered by Hobey Manson at the Oilers’ 30-yard line. On fourth down and nine yards to go, Ridl’s pass was completed to Karp for 13 yards and a first down. Two plays later at the 18-yard line, Wright picked up a third down conversion down to the five-yard line to set up first and goal. The quarter winded down to zero, and the Redmen held a seven-point advantage going into the fourth.
End of 3rd: Marquette Redmen 14, Mount Pleasant Oilers 7
Final Score:Marquette 21, Mount Pleasant 14.
Just like the second quarter, on the first play of the fourth, the Redmen found the endzone. Ridl’s pass was caught by Ty Lotterman for the touchdown, and Johnson’s extra point extended the lead to 21-7. Mount Pleasant was all of a sudden in trouble, and it didn’t help that they hand to punt the ball back to Marquette with nine minutes left. The punt was excellent, and it pinned down the Redmen at their own two-yard line. Marquette’s offense remained efficient by picking up a couple of first downs and wasting some time off of the clock. Being forced to punt, the Redmen’s kick was blocked by Josh Schell and it gave the Oilers life and the ball at the Marquette one-yard line. Two plays later Goenner found the endzone for the touchdown, and Funnell nailed the extra point to cut Marquette’s lead. The Redmen got the ball back up 21-14 with 4:59 left needing to tick down the remaining time to win the game. Jermu helped the cause with a first down catch to midfield with under four minutes left. Two plays later, things changed when Ridl’s pass was tipped by Division I University at Buffalo football commit Anton Ricumstrict, and it was intercepted by Griffin Brookens. The Oilers’ offense took back over with 2:49 left trying to tie the game, and a big completion from McIntyre to Polk got the ball down to the Marquette 14-yard line with 1:47 remaining. Attempting a screen pass on the next play, McIntrye was sacked by Wright for the Redmen, setting the Oilers back to second down-and-20. After two consecutive completions, the Oilers were faced with fourth down with 1:08 left and the game on the line. The pass to the endzone was knocked down incomplete for a turnover on downs, and once again the Redmen defense held. Marquette survived a comeback attempt from Mount Pleasant, and picked a huge 21-14 upset win over Mount Pleasant. The Redmen move on to the District Finals against Muskegon, and have won multiple playoff games for the first time in school history.
Final Score: Marquette Redmen 21, Mount Pleasant Oilers 14
NEXT GAME: The Marquette Redmen Football team will travel on the road to battle the Muskegon Big Reds in the District Finals! The date and time are to be announced, but you can hear it all on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1-99.9 and 103 WFXD with coverage beginning 30 minutes before kickoff with the Elder Agency Pregame Show. Go Redmen!
LISTEN – FULL GAME – REDMEN VS OILERS ON FOX SPORTS MARQUETTE 105.1-99.9 AND 103 WFXD
