In the Evening
By Dan Ward

The Friday Night Heroes traveled to Mason this week. The Bulldogs, with losses to DeWitt, Haslett, and Williamston, are the best 2-3 team in the state. The Redwings, sitting at 4-1, were in for a dogfight.

St. Johns received the opening kickoff, and Lucas McCastle got them out to their 22-yard line. They couldn’t get anything going and were forced to punt.

Mason recovered the punt and brought it out to their 40-yard line, where Cody Carn delivered a punishing hit. However, Mason was able to move the ball against the Redwing defense, and with 7:54 to go in the first, they punched in for the first score of the night. Mason 7- St. Johns 0

Archer Gurski returned the following kickoff to the St. Johns 28. St. Johns got to work on this drive. Conner Kurncz connected with Bryce Pratl on 3rd and 5. Cody Carn racked up some yards. Lucas McCastle played bulldozer for a couple of runs. Brady Heibeck got them to the one, and Conner Kurncz scored with 1:58 left in the first. Nolan Koenigsknecht’s extra point attempt was blocked, and the score was 6-7 as the kids say (Mason 7- St. Johns 6)

Mason tried a little razzle-dazzle on the following kickoff and ran a reverse; however, a block-in-the-back penalty negated a big return. That was about the only mistake Mason made on that drive, and with 20 seconds left in the 1st quarter, Mason scored again to make the score 14-6.

Archer Gurski returned the ensuing kickoff to the 22. St. Johns started their next drive from there. The first quarter ended with the score 14-6 and St. Johns with the ball. The Redwings were able to move the ball to their 34 before the drive stalled out, and St. Johns was forced to punt.

Mason took over at their 33-yard line. On 3rd and 7, Mason’s quarterback was flushed from the pocket, and Brody Pratl stopped him and the drive, forcing Mason to punt.

St. Johns recovered their own muffed punt and went to work moving the ball. Unfortunately, this drive also stalled, and St. Johns was forced to punt. Ryan Priest buried the Mason returner. A very questionable Pass interference penalty turned a 3rd and 20 into a 2nd and 5, and Mason scored with 32 left in the half to make the score 21-6.

McCastle got a huge kick return and brought the ball out to the St. Johns 45-yard line. St. Johns was able to move the ball through the air and started to get a drive going. Kurncz didn’t see a Mason defender on a pass attempt and was intercepted, ending the drive.

With 9.8 seconds left in the half, Mason connected on a big pass and moved the ball to the St. Johns 34. They quickly set up for a 44-yard Field Goal attempt, which was ultimately no good, to end the half.
St. Johns kicked off to start the half, and Mason returned to their 20. Mason hit pay first again with 9:35 to go in the 3rd quarter to make the score 28-6.

It seemed bleak at this point, down by 22, but the Redwings don’t back down from a fight.
McCastle returned the kickoff to the St. Johns 31, Kurncz connected with Pratl, and picked up a Roughing The Passer Penalty. Placing the ball on the Mason 12-yard line. The sequence that followed is one of the longest 4th downs I’ve ever seen. A Pass Interference Penalty moved the ball to the Mason 3 and set up 4th and goal. An offside penalty against St. John’s moved the ball back to the 8-yard line, 4th and 9. A Pass Interference Penalty against Mason made it 4th and 3 again, and another offside made it 4-8 again. Finally, Kurncz was able to connect with Pratl, and Pratl made a toe drag catch to score. The extra point was good from Nolan, and the score was 28-13

The next drive, the Redwing defense was able to force Mason to punt. A Fair Catch Interference Penalty made it 1-10 from the St. Johns 36, and the Redwings started moving the ball. However, they fumbled to Mason at the Mason 45-yard line.

St. Johns needed a spark, and they needed it quickly. Archer Gurski was a match. On the first play of Mason’s possession, he baited Mason into throwing his direction and picked off the pass.

St. Johns struck quickly with some razzle-dazzle of their own in the form of a double pass. Kurncz threw the ball back to Pratl, who fired it upfield to McCastle. McCasle carried the ball into the end zone for the 50-yard touchdown. Nolan tacked on the Extra point, and we have a football game, 28-20, with 2:49 left in the 3rd quarter.

The rest of the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter were a defensive battle over the middle of the field. Greyson Osbourne, Gavin Marino, and Jackson Armstrong had big tackles for losses, and Brody Pratl got a big sack.

Mason was able to get a field goal in the 4th to make the score 31-20.

St. Johns started to move the ball, with Kurncz connecting with Alex Oberlin and Bryce Pratl, but the drive was stopped with an interception.

The last drive stalled out with a Mason sack.

Coach Schmitt said this after the game: “I’m proud of our fight in the second half, but we just started out too slow tonight. We improved from last week, which is important. We need to continue on that path for the last three games of the regular season.”

In other football action, the 7th grade won 8-6, the 8th grade won 42-26, both over Haslett. The Freshmen beat Mason 42-26 and the JV beat the Bulldogs 29-18. In Saturday Morning Cartoon Hero action the 4th grade won 16-0, the 5th grade lost 40-16 and the 6th grade won 38-8

So that’s it from Mason. Next week is another big one. Haslett comes to town for the final home game of the year. It will be Senior Night, and the Redwing Marching Band will do its annual light show. Please come out and fill the bleachers. Support the students as we honor the seniors.

Photo gallery

Stats vs Mason