By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
EGELSTON TOWNSHIP – The North Muskegon football team has a long history, but the team has not brought home a postseason trophy in quite a while.
That drought ended on Saturday at Oakridge High School in the Division 7 district title game. The game was moved to Oakridge due to poor field conditions at Fred Jacks Field at North Muskegon High School.
The Norse overcame an 11-point second-half deficit and defeated a tough Lawton squad 27-24 to advance to regional play. It was the first district title for the Norse since the 2006 season and their first 11-win season since 1986.
“I ran through a lot of emotions during the last three minutes of the game,” said North Muskegon coach Larry Witham. “Great job by James by scoring on that quarterback draw. He made a great choice on the play. North Muskegon football is about the groundwork that was laid for our current team to enjoy, and we worked really hard to get where we are at.”
North Muskegon is now 11-0 on the season and will take on Pewamo-Westphalia next weekend in the regional final round. The Norse played Pewamo-Westphalia back in Week 1 of the season and managed to earn a 17-14 victory on its home field.
North Muskegon will look to get another win against the Pirates to inch closer to a trip to Ford Field for the state finals.
The Norse opened the scoring on their second possession of the game by going 91 yards on seven plays. James Young had two big pass completions to TJ Byard for 42 yards and Landon Christensen for 40 yards. Young finished the drive by scoring from a yard out up the middle to give North Muskegon a 7-0 lead with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter.
Lawton responded on its first drive of the second quarter, capping off a six-play, 84-yard possession that ended with a 64-yard touchdown run by quarterback Aiden O’Brien with 10:42 left in the quarter.
North Muskegon regained its advantage just two plays later after a 23-yard pass to Chuck Meyers and a 57-yard touchdown reception from Young to Christensen to give the Norse a 13-7 lead.
The Blue Devils finished the first half strong, scoring 14 unanswered points to take a 21-13 lead going into halftime.
Lawton scored on a 3-yard touchdown run by Caleb Mallory with 3:13 left in the second quarter to take a 14-13 lead.
The Blue Devils forced North Muskegon to punt then blocked it. They got the ball on the 16-yard line. Lawton punched it in two plays later with an 11-yard touchdown run by Kal Motter with 1:25 left until halftime to take a 21-13 lead.
The Blue Devils started the second half with the ball.
“We didn’t panic in the locker room,” Witham said. “We knew we needed to make some adjustments and we knew they were going to have a difficult time defending our passing attack.”
Logan Nap managed to nail a 41-yard field goal with 7:26 remaining in the third quarter to give the Blue Devils a 24-13 advantage.
The Norse responded right back on their first possession of the second half, going 80 yards on eight plays.
North Muskegon ran the ball six times during the drive before scoring on a 28-yard touchdown connection from Young to Byard to cut the Norse deficit with 4:27 left in the third quarter. Alec Newville caught the 2-point conversion to cut Lawton’s lead to 24-21.
The Blue Devils held on to the football for the next 16 plays until they had a decision to make at the North Muskegon 10-yard line. Lawton decided to go for it on fourth down and five and was held to a 3-yard run to turn the ball over on downs with 6:56 remaining in the contest.
The Norse went 93 yards on their next drive in just seven plays to retake the lead late in the contest. Young scored the ultimate game-winning touchdown with 5:10 left in regulation on a 39-yard touchdown run. North Muskegon failed on the 2-point try, giving the Blue Devils a chance to tie the game with just a field goal.
The Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs in just four offensive plays, giving North Muskegon the ball back with 3:28 remaining and the lead. The Norse failed to put the game away as they were forced to punt with 2:28 left in the contest, but Young punted the ball down all the way to the goal line.
Lawton managed to drive the ball 28 yards, but turned the ball over on downs with less than 30 seconds remaining in the contest. North Muskegon took a knee to capture its first district title in 17 seasons.
Young finished 13-for-18 passing for 256 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 26 yards and the game-winning score. Cullen Bartos rushed for 51 yards on nine attempts. North Muskegon was paced by Byard with five catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Christensen had three receptions for 96 yards and one score.
“It’s been a crazy ride battling through so much adversity,” said Young. “I really started to love playing as a QB my freshman year and since then I have worked hard to get here, and we wanted to prove people, who doubted us, wrong.
“They were a really big team, but it is about the size of the heart and not about the body.”
