The Boys Are Back In Town

By Dan Ward

Homecoming brought the glammer, the crowd, and the kind of Friday night football that makes a small town proud. The St. Johns Redwings welcomed the undefeated Mason Bulldogs for a hard-fought battle with all the intensity of a Thin Lizzy classic. The boys were back in town, and they wanted to fight.

With the stands rocking and both teams trading blows, neither side backed down. The Redwings battled Mason right down to the wire, refusing to give an inch. But when it looked like the game might end with the Bulldogs holding a narrow lead, Mason found the end zone in the final minute to seal a 21-9 victory.

It wasn’t the storybook ending we had hoped for, with the underdogs beating their long-time rivals on homecoming. But the Friday Night Heroes played a hard-fought game and left everything they had on the field.

Mason Stats
Photo Gallery

Hot Dog Report

Dog: 5/5 — Nothing like a hometown dog

Bun: N/A — I don’t eat bread

Toppings: 5/5 — Ketchup and mustard

Value: 5/5 — Average price

Game-Day Factor: 5/5

Overall: 5/5 — “Of course it’s 5 for 5! It’s Friday night, it’s St. Johns and it’s homecoming.”

First Half

It’s a long-standing tradition that for homecoming, the youth teams and coaches are on the field for pregame. Watching the players warm up is something special for the youth teams dreaming of playing under the lights at Redwings Stadium themselves.

Mason won the coin toss and deferred. St. Johns elected to receive.

St. Johns took the opening kickoff and got to work. They put the Bulldogs back on their heels with good old-fashioned smash-mouth football, the signature of a St. Johns team. They threw a wrinkle into the mix when Lucas McCastle hit Cody Carn for a 35-yard pass. Unfortunately, the Mason defense stiffened up, and the Redwings were forced to kick a field goal. Myles Jones drove it through the uprights from 29 yards out, and at 6:42 in the first, St. Johns was up 3-0.

Mason quickly learned the Redwings came to play. The St. Johns defense didn’t let them string together a drive, and on fourth down they tried a trick punt, with the punter lining up at quarterback and dropping back to punt.

The next drive for St. Johns featured McCastle, Carn, and Smith plowing up yardage, but it stalled, and the Redwings were forced to punt.

Football is a weird sport. Things that you practice hundreds of times with no problems suddenly go wrong. The snap on the punt attempt went high over Tyler Priest’s head, and he had to recover it deep inside the 10-yard line. Priest got a short punt off, but Mason started the drive deep in St. Johns territory at the 29-yard line.

The Redwing defense had to step up. They did, big time. Mason went for it on fourth-and-2 from the St. Johns 22, but Brody Pratl and Ian Smith weren’t fooled and stopped the drive.

St. Johns started out moving the ball and putting Mason back on their heels. Conner Kurncz connected with Tyler Priest on third-and-4. After a false start moved the Redwings back to first-and-15 from their 30, Kurncz found McCastle for a first down. A late hit against the Redwings moved the ball back, and the drive ended when a Mason defender made an amazing catch for an interception.

Mason ultimately scored on third-and-20 from the 22-yard line. After the extra point, the score was 7-3 Mason over St. Johns with 3:23 left in the half.

St. Johns’ next drive started with McCastle returning the kickoff to the St. Johns 41-yard line. Kurncz found Smith and Jones for completions, but St. Johns turned the ball over on downs.

With twelve seconds left in the half, Mason took a knee and took a 7-3 lead into the locker room.

Half Time

It was time for the homecoming festivities. This year, the Queen’s Court was Bella Payment, Maddie Wheeler, Ave Schafer, Caroline Wiseman, and Rachel Kirk. The King’s Court was Merlin McNitt, Thomas Burnham, Cody Carn, Ian Smith, and Bryce Foster.

Cody Carn and Rachel Kirk were King and Queen.

Second Half

St. Johns kicked off to Mason to start the second half. Mason returned it to their 23. St. Johns immediately put the brakes on that drive, forcing Mason to punt from their 30.

The Redwings started the drive with a bad snap that moved them from their 40 to their 36. Then Kurncz ran out of time on the next play and was forced to throw the ball away. A roughing penalty against Mason moved the ball ahead to the Mason 49.

From there, Lucas McCastle moved the entire pile ahead to the Mason 42. A false start on the next play moved the ball back, and an interception stopped the drive. Mason took over on their 30.

Mason put together a drive on this possession, and with 5:02 left in the third, they scored to make it 14-3.

St. Johns wasn’t going to lay down, however. This is a team that will give everything they have. Kurncz found McCastle and Jones for key receptions, and on third-and-11 from the Bulldog 44, he found Smith, who took it all the way to the 3-yard line.

McCastle punched it in on the next play. St. Johns went for two and were stopped, but with three seconds left in the third, we had a game: St. Johns 9, Mason 14.

The fourth quarter was like the 12th round of a heavyweight fight, with both teams trading blows and exhaustion setting in. Mason punted to St. Johns, and the Redwings moved the ball to the Mason 40 before punting.

Mason started their final possession from their 8-yard line. A facemask penalty extended a long Mason run, giving them 15 more yards and putting the ball at the St. Johns 32, first-and-10. A false start moved them back to the 37.

Mason found the end zone with 51 seconds left to seal the game, 21-9.

One of the lessons in football is you can’t dwell on the past. You can’t celebrate a win for too long, and you can’t dwell on a loss. Coach Schmitt echoed this in our weekly text.

“Our guys played extremely hard tonight against Mason. Couldn’t be more proud of how they fought and battled throughout the night,” said Schmitt. “We had some costly penalties in critical situations that may have played a difference. But in the end, we will grow from it and move forward. I know we have a tough team of young men who are hungry to get back to work and beat Haslett.”

Next Up

This week we travel to Haslett. Haslett is sitting at 1-4 this year. But don’t let the record fool you. Haslett has played some tough competition, losing to Linden (4-1), Fenton (4-1), Mason (5-0) and Williamston (3-2).

They are going to be hungry.

Around the Program

In other St. Johns Football Program news:

The 7th-grade team beat Pewamo-Westphalia combined 7th and 8th 6-0.

The 8th-grade team lost to Lansing Catholic 6-0.

The JV B beat Mason 36-0.

The JV A beat Mason 32-14.

The 4th grade had a bye.

The 5th grade lost to Portland 22-8.

The 6th grade lost to Kappa 26-8.

This week, the 7th and 8th grades play Haslett.

JV B plays Freeland, while JV A plays Haslett.

SJYAA 4th, 5th, and 6th play DeWitt.