It’s Gonna Be A Rip And Roaring Time
By Dan Ward

As a former SJHS football player, I can tell you there is one week you mark on your calendar; Ionia Week. Ionia and St. Johns have been rivals for as long as I can remember. We don’t like them, they don’t like us. Traditionally, this game has been later in the season, but this year we are facing off in week two.

St. Johns won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Bryson Martinez took it to the 34, and an Ionia penalty moved it to the 44. The next play, Conner Kurncz connected with Bryce Pratl for 35 yards and to the 15, and the Redwings are in business. Slightly more than a minute later, Kurncz took it in for the score from the 1-yard line. Nolan Koenigsknecht tacked on the extra point. The score was 7 -0 while most people were still in line for popcorn.
Ionia took the ensuing kickoff to their 44 and tried a little trick play with a backwards pass that was dropped. Brady Heibeck scooped the ball up and rumbled to the 20. At the 9:41 mark, Xavier Benjamin Broke loose for 20 yards for another touchdown. Koenigsknecht’s extra point made it 14-0. The rest of the 1st quarter was a back-and-forth. Greyson Osborne had a drive-ending tackle for loss, and Brody Pratl had a drive-ending sack.

We move into the 2nd quarter, and St. Johns has the ball 2nd and 13 from the St. Johns 34. Kurncz steps up and finds Alex Oberlin for a 60-yard touchdown pass. Koenigsknecht adds another point, making the score 21-0.

The following kickoff was chaotic as the officials called St. Johns for a block in the back, walked off the penalty, and then remembered that St. Johns, being the kicking team, could not commit a block in the back. They got that sorted out and walked the penalty off against Ionia. Ionia wasn’t able to put a drive together and was forced to punt. The punt went straight up and carried about 20 yards before landing out of bounds.

St. Johns took over on the Ionia 45. A few plays later, Kurncz finds Bryce Pratl again for a 24-yard strike. To make things interesting, Koenigskenct decided to ricochet the extra point off the upright and in. Making the score 28-0.

Ionia capitalized on some penalties, put together a drive, and punched it in with 28 seconds left in the half. Their 2-point conversion was successful, and the half ended with the score 28-8.
The second half starts with Ionia receiving the kickoff. A couple of plays later, things weren’t going the Bulldogs’ way; they fumbled, and Brady Heibeck scooped the ball up and plowed ahead for another Redwings touchdown, Koenigsknecht as he has done most of the season, adds the extra point, and the score is 35-8.

Ionia let the next kickoff roll out of bounds and takes over on their 35-yard line. Some costly St. Johns penalties helped Ionia get out of trouble, and they punched it in for a touchdown and 2-point conversion to make the score 35-16.

St. Johns returns the kick to their 28-yard line when Archer Gurski lost his footing. But Xavier Benjamin broke free soon after to move the ball to the Ionia 31. A few plays later from the 26, Benjamin broke free and scampered for his second touchdown of the game, and of course, Koenigsknecht booted it in, making the score 42-16.

The start of the 4th quarter finds St. Johns with the ball. Bryson Martinez goes for a big run and a personal foul penalty tacks on 15 more, flipping the field and setting up Xavier Benjamin for his third touchdown run of the day. Koenigsknecht puts up another extra point, making the score 49-16.

In the next series, Ionia attempts to punt, but there is a problem with the snap, and St. Johns takes over on the Ionia 24.

A St. Johns fumble turns the ball over on the Ionia 17, but two plays later, Ionia fumbles the ball, and St. Johns regains control.

St. Johns attempted a field goal that was blocked, and Ionia was able to move the ball to the St. Johns 24 before turning the ball over on downs, and St. Johns went into victory formation.

After the game, Coach Schmitt said, “We came out and played tough tonight. We established the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. It feels good to move to 2-0, but we need to keep our heads down and keep working because the conference is as strong as it has ever been.”

Next up, St. Johns travels to Fowlerville to open up conference play. Fowlerville is also 2-0 coming off a 34-30 win over Marshall. Be sure to come out and cheer on your Friday Night Heroes.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR PHOTO GALLERY BY GLENN ARMSTRONG

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