By Andrew Johnson
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – If the Muskegon Catholic football team wins a fourth straight state championship this season, it will need a strong running game.

Apparently that won’t be a problem.lsj-fb-logo

The MCC backfield proved up to the task on Thursday night, registering 459 yards and four touchdowns combined between four players, giving the Crusaders a 30-6 victory over Oakridge on opening night in front of a home crowd.

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The victory provided a measure of revenge for the Crusaders, who lost their opener to Oakridge last season before going on to win the Division 8 state title.

Logan Helton led the way for the Crusaders with 189 yards on 16 carries, including two touchdowns, while LaTommy Scott added 146 yards on 15 carries.

Walker Christoffersen rushed for 92 yards on seven carries and scored two touchdowns, one on the ground and one through the air.

“The plan was to see if we could move (the Oakridge defense) off the ball, and we knew they’d have some big people,” said Crusader head coach Steve Czerwon. “Those backs are going to be hard to tackle when they get in the open field.  They have a lot of speed and are going to run away from some people.”

While Scott didn’t find the end zone for MCC, he did have multiple highlight runs, leaving the Oakridge defense missing tackles in the dust.

“I usually just use my vision but a couple of runs I got ahead of myself,” said Scott. “The game kind of slows down and I’m able to make guys miss 1-on-1.”

LaTommy Scott (20) shakes off a tackle as he powers up field. Photo/Kevin Sielaff

LaTommy Scott (20) shakes off a tackle as he powers up field. Photo/Kevin Sielaff

The scoring started with a 69-yard touchdown run by Christoffersen with 3:16 remaining in the opening quarter to give the Crusaders a 7-0 lead.

Muskegon Catholic led 10-0 at halftime after a Caleb Muskovin 22-yard field goal late in the second quarter.

On the second play in the third quarter, Helton took his turn scoring on a 69-yard touchdown run to extend the Crusader lead to 16-0.

Oakridge freshman Leroy Quinn narrowed the score to 16-6 with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter with a five-yard touchdown run.

Butt the Oakridge comeback effort was short-lived.

With 9:31 remaining in the game, and Muskegon Catholic facing fourth down, quarterback Trent Bordeaux connected with a streaking Christoffersen from 20-yards out for a touchdown pass to extend the MCC lead to 23-6.

The final score came on a 10-yard touchdown burst by Helton.

The Crusader defense was led by freshman Cameron Martinez, who had two fumble recoveries. Jackson Riegler and Miles Novotny each had eight tackles.

The Eagles were led on offense by quarterback Brady Luttrull, who had 75 yards passing and 57 yards rushing. Brandon Wilde led the defense with 11 tackles.