Lenawee Christian soccer cruises in opposition to Toledo Christian

ADRIAN – Lenawee Christian’s soccer team unveiled their banner to commemorate his 8-man Division 1 title in 2021 ahead of the season opener against Toledo Christian on Friday.

The Cougars immediately set out to prove that the new boss was the same as the old boss, shooting to a 42-0 half-time lead on the way to a 56-12 win over the Eagles.

“The early intensity the seniors put into this game made a huge difference,” said head coach Bill Wilharms. “We thought we didn’t play really well in scrimmage and we had to prove something. They had a certain intensity, they came out and set the tone.”

The Cougars first team (1-0) were in the game for a few minutes at most in the third quarter, but Ashur Bryja made the most of his time, walking 9 of 12 for 151 yards and 3 touchdown passes against an interception while in added a 20 yard touchdown run to his first start.

Clay Ayers was the best running back on his 18th birthday for both side yards and two touchdown grabs on three catches, including a 55 yard score after 34 seconds in the game.

“I think we made a good statement when we got out of here and played against Toledo Christian, they are no slouch,” said Ayers. “They are a good team and it was a good fight, but I think we showed what we can do well this year.”

Tyler VanEtten had three catches for 34 yards and a 30-yard touchdown reception towards the end of the second quarter for LCS, while Sam Lutz and Brenner Powers crossed on touchdown runs of 35 and 17 respectively in the fourth quarter.

For Toledo Christian (0-1), jam-back Jacob Michalski led the running game for the Eagles, who carried nine times for 69 yards and a 55-yard touchdown run in the middle of the fourth quarter. Eagles quarterback Charlie Duck IV finished with seven completions on 18 tries for 107 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown pass to Karter Koester with 31 seconds to go to end the scoring and rushed for 45 yards on 15 tries.

Lenawee Christian will now turn his attention to Middleton-Fulton next week and try to expand his winnings against the Pirates, who even here to 8-man Football change year.

“It’s one of those where it proves that the off-season kids work and do what we need of them,” said Wilharms, “and they’re building a family unit. From newbies to senior, everyone is on a mission together, and that’s what we want. “

Tecumseh 39, Grassee 24: In Grass Lake, Tecumseh won the season opener for the first time since 2016 and achieved its overall victories from the last two seasons with a win against the Warriors.

Head coach Greg Dolson was particularly pleased with his team’s performance in the second half and the way the game ended.

“It was nice to see us finish a game like this,” said Dolson. “After we got up on them we started playing the ball and I think we wore them off a bit. We closed it. I’m proud of how they did it. ”

Matt Sambrowski, Jobe Benschoter, AJ Bryan and Jake Burns scored touchdowns for Tecumseh in the first half. Burns hit a 40-yard pass with Benschoter in the first quarter and Sambrowski from 14 yards.

Gavin Chenevey had three interceptions on the defensive and one more on a two-point conversion attempt. He returned one of the picks 45 yards for a third quarter touchdown.

“Gavin’s a guy that some people forget, but I don’t know why,” said Dolson. “He’s a kid who at some point will be the guy who’ll step up and make a big game for us every game.”

Tecumseh will take to the streets next week to fight Richland Gull Lake.

Sandbach 46, Quincy 14: At Quincy, John Alexander picked up where he left off last season, storming to 272 and scoring five touchdowns when the Aggies took a win in Marc Spicer’s debut as head coach at Sand Creek.

“It was nice to have that first win,” said Spicer.

Alexander carried the ball 20 times and scored in runs of 55, 58, 54 and five yards. He also caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from George Hillard.

“If John sees a wrinkle, he’s gone,” said Spicer. “Our line played well up front and gave him space. We threw that touchdown pass early and that loosened their defense a bit and we hit the rock with John. ”

Hillard, who made his first start as a quarterback, also threw a touchdown pass to Dawson Riddle.

The Aggies had 356 yards on 34 tries. The Aggie defense rallied three fumbles and gave up Quincy 276 yards.

Sand Creek will be back in action for Week 2 Thursday when it hosts Blissfield.

Ottawa Lake Whiteford 52, Blissfield 21: In Blissfield, the Royals will hold a film session on Sunday evening and try to decipher the cause of the loss on Friday.

Blissfield coach Ron Estes said he was confident his team will get better.

“You will show up on Sunday evening,” he said. “This is the first step in fixing things. You have to admit what’s wrong. We’re going to watch a movie and fix some things. It will be fixed. ”

Whiteford scored a goal in a number of ways – a kickoff return, an interception return, three passing games, and three rushing plays. The Bobcats put down more than 450 yards overall offensive and won the sales battle, all recipes for a successful night.

“A lot of new things happened tonight,” said Estes. “But that’s why we practice. At the end of the day, they could play faster because they knew better what they were doing. We were confused at times. I think at the end of the game we did it. ”

The Royals graduated from some key people on a team that went undefeated during the regular season and won the Lenawee County Athletic Association championship a season ago.

“We played a good team,” said Estes.

Whiteford picked up a pass in the first game of the game and set up a 13-yard touchdown run from senior running back Cole Giesige. Blissfield came back and put on a great drive, mostly on the strength of Chase Collyer’s legs. Landon Pitts finished the drive with a three yard run and Aaron Stalker’s Point-After gave the Royals a 7-6 advantage. The lead lasted 13 seconds.

At the next whistle, Giesige picked up the ball at the five-yard line, found daylight in the middle, and broke free for a 95-yard return. It opened the floodgates for the Bobcats, who would add three more points before half-time – a pass from Shea Ruddy to Ty Ruddy from five yards, an interception return for a touchdown from Ryin Ruddy, and a Jake Iott 3-yard run.

Collyer scored an 8-yard run in the middle of the third quarter before Ruddy threw two more touchdown passes. but the Bobcats got a pair of TD passes from Ruddy to cover 38-14 before Royal quarterback Noah Schnoor completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Owen Smith.

Schnoor, who made his first career start as a quarterback, completed 12 of 18 passes for 97 yards. Ty Cantrell caught two passes for 58 yards and Smith had five receptions. Collyer was a workhorse in the heat, racing for 108 yards 20 times.

Sophomore Julius Brown was superbly defensive for the Royals with six solo tackles and two tackles for loss.

Blissfield will take on another Tri-County Conference team next week when it travels to Sand Creek.

“I thought he played very well,” said Estes. “This is a child who understands. They are a strong team and he played well against that line. It will be like this every Friday evening, ”said Estes. “We have to get better.”