By Tom Kendra
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON – Saginaw Heritage had one great player, 6-3 senior receiver Braylon Isom, who had a monster game on Saturday to put himself into the state record book.
It sure was.
Piggee, a 5-8, 175-pound slotback with lightning speed and Barry Sanders-esque starting/stopping ability, carried the ball nine times for 245 yards (27.2 yards per carry) and two touchdowns as Muskegon rolled past Heritage, 42-14, in a Division 2 regional championship game.
“We hold ourselves to a higher standard and we feel like we can beat anybody,” explained senior Da’Carion Taylor, who had a big game on Saturday as a receiver on offense and a safety on defense. “This football program means everything to us and is everything to us. That’s why we’re here every year.”
That semifinal streak looked like it might be in jeopardy early on, as Heritage struck first, stunning the hosts with a variety of five-wideout formations and scoring on an acrobatic, 3-yard catch by Isom from senior quarterback Ethan Mason midway through the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
That’s when Piggee ignited his team and the huge crowd on a perfect afternoon for football.
Piggee took the handoff from M’Khi Guy on a jet-sweep play and turned around left corner, sprinting 56 yards to tie the game.
That run opened the floodgates as Muskegon scored 42 unanswered points – two long runs by Piggee, two runs by Guy, a TD run by Jakob Price and a 15-yard TD reception by Taylor – to turn a competitive game into a rout.
Muskegon led 14-7 at halftime, but started to pull away when Piggee went 81 yards on another jet sweep around the left end on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter.
“On those plays, I’m looking for a hole to cut up and if I don’t see anything, I take it outside,” said Piggee, who now has 1,124 rushing yards on the season. “The defensive back went outside, so I hit the hole as hard as I could.”
Piggee gave credit to the “stalk blocking” of Price, Terrance “TJ” Davis, Brant Brooks and Taylor to spring him free on those two long TD runs.
“We practice stalk blocking every single day,” said Taylor, who had eight tackles and three pass deflections to go along with his touchdown reception. “Coach wants us to be strong, physical and fast. That’s what he preaches every day.”
Muskegon finished with a 468-60 edge in rushing yards.
Guy had nine carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns, while completing 1-of-3 passes for 15 yards and a touchdown. Price had 11 carries for 73 yards.
Isom, who came into the game as the state’s all-time leader in career TD receptions with 50, also became the state’s all-time leader in receiving yards after grabbing 12 receptions for 182 yards.
Isom, who is committed to Miami of Ohio, needed 107 receiving yards Saturday to break the state record. He finished his prep career with 3,817 career receiving yards for Heritage (9-3), which won two playoff games this season – their first playoff wins since 2001.
Mason completed 17-of-31 passes for 196 yards, with two TDs and one interception, while rushing 12 times for 44 yards. Senior middle linebacker Wyatt Vondette led the Hawks defense with six tackles.
Darekeo Speech spearheaded Muskegon’s hard-hitting defense with 11 tackles and Keon Drummer, a 5-9 senior who drew the assignment of guarding Isom throughout the game, had five tackles and a game-high six pass deflections.
Adrian Rankin made eight tackles, Lyn Wilson III added seven tackles and an interception and Mhakai Lennox-Brooks made six tackles.
Photos by Tim Reilly