LocalSportsJournal.com
NEWAYGO – The Newaygo Lions are heading to the Division 6 regional football playoffs after a nail-biting 35-34 victory over Central Montcalm on Friday night.
It wasn’t look so good for the Lions in the early going as the hosts fell behind 16-0. However, Coach Ralph Munger’s Lions battled back to tie the game at 22-all at the half.
Newaygo pushed the lead at 35-28 after three quarters.
Central Montcalm scored with slightly less than 5 minutes remaining in the game to pull within one, but the 2-point conversion failed and the Lions hung on for the narrowest of victories.
Lion quarterback Blake Kerr completed 5-of-10 passes for 122 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Henry Wood had one reception for 84 yards. The leading rusher was Parker Slominski with 151 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown. Trevor Garbrecht added 13 carries for 57 yards.
Luis Alvarez was the leading tackler with 10. Konnor Bissel had seven stops, including one for loss.
The game was a rematch from Sept. 6 in which Newaygo traveled to Central Montcalm and earned a 21-12.
Newaygo, which earned the right to host three playoff games, will welcome Lansing Catholic next weekend for regional action. Lansing Catholic defeated Ovid-Elsie 31-28 for its district title on Friday night.
Photos by Craig Smith
