When We Celebrate
By Dan Ward

You have probably noticed my theme by now, but unfortunately, we lost to Haslett. BUT… Fear not, faithful readers, we have plenty to celebrate because it’s Senior Night.

Senior night means we celebrate #2 Bryce Pratl, Wide Receiver extraordinaire. We celebrate #3 Bryson Martinez, Running Back and Kick Returner. #9 Xavier Benjamin, running back who ran all over Ionia, and #11 Christian Simmons, Wide Receiver and Defensive Back. #13 Justin Hurber, another one of the talented receiver corps for the Redwings. Ryan Priest #15 Wide Receiver and Defensive back who lays some hits on people. #30 Brady Heibeck, who is part Mac truck as a Running Back. Jaxson Densmore #32, primarily a wrestler who is playing High School Football for the first time this year as a receiver and defensive back. #54 Nolan Koenigsknecht, whose foot is as accurate as they come, and also plays Offensive line and Defensive line. #57 Dylan Alexander playing Tight End and Linebacker. #62 Jackson Armstrong, who typically leads the team out of the tunnel and is fearsome as an Offensive and Defensive Lineman. #66 Cole VanEtten, Cole was injured during the scrimmage and is usually on the sideline with a knee scooter, another one of the big uglies as an Offensive and Defensive Lineman. #73 Greyson Osbourne Defensive Lineman and Offensive Lineman, Greyson is a monster in the middle of the field. Gavin Moreno #77, another one of the Defensive Line and Offensive Line, is another beast on the field, and he never fails to say “Hi” to my son. #78 Brody Abendroth just back from injury and right back to crushing people on the Offensive Line. #79 Lincoln Peterson, a literal giant on the Offensive side of the ball, and finally #88 Jake Boettger playing Tight End and Defensive Line.

We also get to honor the senior cheerleaders. Dianna Manas, Olivia Chaplin, Sofia Raamussen, a foreign exchange student from Denmark, and Elisa Fanellu, a foreign exchange student from Italy.

Haslett rolled into town with a 4-2 record with losses to DeWitt and Williamston to take on The Friday Night Heroes, The St. Johns Redwings. St. Johns also had a 4-2 record with losses to Williamston and Mason. The last two games for The Redwings were part of a 3-game brutal gauntlet, facing some of the best teams the Mid-Michigan Area has to offer.

The night was overcast and cool. The stadium was decorated to the T, with an awesome brand-new scoreboard featuring the illuminated Redwing logo at the top and red, white, and black sidelines, along with “REDWINGS” in each end zone. For the last varsity home game, it was going out in style.

As they had done all season, the Redwings won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Ian Smith got a nice return out to the 35, and St. Johns started rolling right out of the gate. Very quickly, Haslett was back on their heels defending their own end of the field. A late hit on the Vikings moved the ball to their 16, and then the defense stiffened. On 4th and 5 from Haslett’s 12-yard line, St. Johns chose to attempt a field goal. Haslett blocked the field goal, scooped up the live ball, and was off to the races for a Touchdown. With 2:42 left in the 1st quarter, the score was Haslett 7, St. Johns 0

A touchback on the kickoff had St. Johns starting at their 20. The drive stalled, and St. Johns was forced to punt the ball. The punt was recovered by Haslett, and the receiver was dropped right where he caught it.

The second quarter started with Haslett’s ball 2-10 from the St. Johns 24-yard line.
Facing a 4th and 15, Haslett attempted a field goal that went wide right, and St. Johns took over first and ten from their 20-yard line.

On second and twelve from his eighteen-yard line, St. Johns quarterback Conner Kurncz was stripped, and Haslett recovered the ball deep in St. Johns territory.

St. Johns defense made it difficult for Haslett as the rain started to fall briefly. On third and eight from the St. Johns eight, Haslett moved the ball to the St. Johns two-yard line, where the Redwings’ linebacker Lucas McCastle went down with an injury and wasn’t able to return to the game. After the delay, the Vikings were able to punch it in against a worried Redwings defense to make the score 0-14, 6:17 left in the half.

Archer Gurski returned the kickoff to the St. Johns 25, and St. Johns went to work. On third and seven, Cody Carn caught a deflected pass and ran to the St. Johns 49-yard line for a first down.
Kurncz completed passes to Bryce Pratl and Alex Obelin. An Unsportsmanlike Penalty against Haslett moved the ball to the Haslett 5, and with 1:39 in the half, Cody Carn punched in for the touchdown, and Nolan Koenigsknecht’s extra point made the score 7-14.

Haslett went for blood on the next drive, but Alex Oberlin was there to break up the pass.
The Redwings’ defense forced Haslett to punt.

St. Johns got rolling again with Kurncz connecting with Oberlin to bring up third and five. But with 35 seconds left, Kurncz was sacked and St. Johns was forced to punt.

The half ended with the score Haslett 14 and St. Johns 7.

The Halftime Show featured the very talented Dance Squad who dedicated their performance to seniors Erin Keller and Peyton Austin and, of course, the Redwing Marching Band. The band featured seniors Jackson Armstrong, Madison Carlson, Carly Coleman, Jackson Daman, Lydia Darragh, DJ Davis, Jaxson Densmore, Griffin Drolett, Ayden Emmons, Daniel Glew, Aubrey Goins, Brady Heibeck, Nic Hiner, Morgan Klaver, Vincent Manas, Addison McClain, Josie Mead, Gavin Moreno, Vance Neller, Oliver Nobis, Audrey Overly, Brodie Payment, Lincoln Peterson, Emily Prill, Sawyer Rippke, Kelseigh Schalow, Maya Shaub, Hudson Smith, Hunter Swisher and Amber Wissel. If you notice some repeat names, it is because we have very talented and very involved seniors in St. Johns. Nothing better than seeing Cheerleaders and Football players in uniform marching with the band.

St. Johns kicked off to start the half, and Haslett returned to their 37-yard line. Haslett connected on a deep pass, but Oberlin put a big hit on the Haslett receiver and knocked the ball loose, where Ian Smith recovered it.

St. Johns carried that momentum shift down the field with Kurncz connecting with Oberlin and Pratl. Xavier Benjamin moved the ball to the Haslett 45. Unfortunately, he was injured on the play and had to leave the game, not returning.

St. Johns kept rolling, and with 2:08 in the third, Kurncz found Ian Smith in the endzone for the touchdown. Haslett was able to block the extra point, and the score was 13-14.

Haslett returned St. Johns kickoff to their 39-yard line. The 3rd quarter ended with Haslett on a drive, leading 14-13.

Haslett scored on fourth and four, and the extra point made the score 21-13

The rest of the fourth quarter was a back-and-forth with St. John’s punting to Haslett.
Gavin Moreno, Jackson Armstrong, and Brody Pratl all had big tackles for losses, and Haslett was forced to punt.

On the next drive, Kurncz was sacked twice and St. John’s was forced to punt.

Haslett drove the field, but the Redwings forced them to a field goal attempt with 56 seconds left that was no good, and St. Johns had a shot.

Kurncz connected with Pratl, Oberlin, and Bryson Martinez, but on fourth and three, Kurncz’s pass was incomplete, and the Redwings turned the ball over on downs. Haslett took a knee and escaped St. Johns with a 21-13 victory.
After the game, we were treated to the traditional marching band light show, with the band members decked out in multi-colored lights. It’s always a highlight of the season.

Coach Schmitt said, “I thought our guys played extremely hard and physical tonight. We played with heart tonight, but unfortunately did not come up on the winning end of this one. We need to clean some things up moving forward and focus on finishing this regular season strong!”

On Saturday Morning, the Saturday Morning Cartoon Heroes Took on Grand Ledge. The 4th grade suffered their first loss of the season falling to Grand Ledge 27-0 to finish 5-1. The 5th grade won 40-22 to finish 3-3 (and make it so I’ve never coached a team with a losing record).
The 6th grade wrapped up their SJYAA careers with a 30-6 victory to finish 6-0. They outscored their opponents 246-36. They finished with a 16-1-1 record.

Next week, the Redwings travel to the great north to take on the undefeated Gaylord Blue Devils

Haslett Stats