Page 10/The Sun and News, Saturday, October 16, 2021Scots a play away from taking down No. 1 Rams
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Before rolling through the
handshake line at midfield
and before the big celebra-
tion could really get going on
the Rockford sideline,
Caledonia senior Andrew
Gray turned to give his com-
petitors a bit of applause for
a job well done.
Both teams deserved some
applause.
The Rams, the top ranked
squad in Division 1 in the
state, improved to 7-0 on the
season, handing Caledonia
its first defeat and taking
control of the race for an OK
Red Conference
Championship with a 17-
win over the now 6-
Fighting Scots in Rockford
Friday (Oct. 8).
Caledonia varsity football
coach Derek Pennington
talked to his guys in the
south end zone at Carson-
Munger Stadium about how
close they were to an OK
Red Conference
Championship and how
much they have left to play
for with the Division 2
MHSAA playoffs a couple
weeks away.
As his guys headed to the
locker room though,
Pennington took a moment
to himself in the end zone,
reaching his arms up to hold
the top of his head while cov-
ering his face for a couple
beats and then dropped hishands to his knees as he
gazed out across the empty-
ing stadium.
This one stung.
The Fighting Scots took a
14-10 lead into the fourth
quarter at Rockford on the
strength of two touchdown
passes from quarterback
Mason McKenzie, a 32-yard-
er to Brock Townsend that
pulled the Scots to within
10-7 late in the first half and
a two-yarder to Justice Reed
that gave their team the lead
with five minutes to play in
the third, and a tremendous
defensive effort that offered
solid coverage while con-
taining Ram quarterback Zak
Ahren a bit.
The Caledonia defenseforced a turnover on downs
and a punt on the Rams’ first
two possessions of the fourth
quarter, but a fumble in the
Scots’ backfield on the first
play following the second
punt was recovered by the
Rams’ Andrew Griffin at the
Caledonia 17-yard-line with
7:16 to play.
Ahren tossed a 24-yard
TD pass on a third-and-
play with 5:09 to go that
pushed the Rams in front
17-14.
Caledonia’s offense
moved from its own 20 to the
Ram 37 in the final minutes
before McKenzie was forced
to loft an off-balance, fourth-
down pass deep down the
middle of the field. He had a
man open, but a trio of Ram
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269-217-Caledonia varsity football coach Derek Pennington talks things over with his team following its 17-14 loss
to the Rams in Rockford Friday in what was a battle between two undefeated teams. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Caledonia receiver Justice Reed hauls in a pass as
he’s hit from behind by Rockford safety Camden
Whyte during the fourth quarter of their OK Red
Conference ballgame in Rockford Friday, Oct. 8.
(Photo by Brett Bremer)Caledonia quarterback Mason McKenzie looks to
dodge a Rockford defender on a run around the left
side during his team’s OK Red Conference contest at
the home of the Rams Oct. 8. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Scots are Michigan’s fastest See FOOTBALL, page 12
at annual Portage Invitational
Brett Bremer
Sports EditorIf Portage is a test, the
Caledonia varsity boys’ cross
country team passed with
flying colors.
Only Hilliard Davidson and
St. Xavier from the state of
Ohio were faster than the
Caledonia boys in the Division
1 race Saturday at the annual
Portage West Invitational on
the course behind Portage
West Middle School. The
Fighting Scots even enacted a
big of revenge by outscoring
Brighton 174-181 to place
third overall and first among
the teams from their home
state. Brighton had finished
better than the Scots at the
Spartan Invitational hosted by
Michigan State University last
month.
Caledonia even bested the
Brighton boys with seniors
Jack Campbell and Quinn
Cullen running the fastest
races of their lives at the
front of the Brighton pack.
Campbell was 14th overall in
15 minutes 57.0 seconds and
Cullen 15th in 16:01.5.
In the battle between the
Bulldogs and the Scots,
Caledonia had the next three
guys across the finish line.
Senior Josh Oom ran his best
time of the season to lead the
Caledonia boys, placing 17th
overall in 16:04.0. The
Caledonia team had senior
Caden Dixon 27th in 16:21.
and junior Jordan Domany
29th in 16:21.7.
Rounding out the top five
for Caledonia were junior
Brett Guzman with a
47th-place time of 16:39.
and senior Donavan Mattson
in 59th with a time of 16:44.4.
Hilliard Davidson won the
38-team boys’ race with 101
points. St. Xavier finished
with 105 points. Romeo was
a distant fifth with a score of
219 points behind Caledonia
and Brighton.
Hartland senior Riley Hough
was one of two guys to fly
around the course in fewer than
15 minutes. He won in a per-
sonal record time of 14:37.1.
Pinckney senior Caleb Jarema
set a new PR with his runner-up
time of 14:57.5.
The top four guys in the
race all ran a new personal
record time. That group also
included junior ConnorAckley from Hilliard
Davidson who finished in
15:11.8 and Ann Arbor
Pioneer senior Owen Johnson
who came in at 15:24.4.
The Caledonia girls placed
23rd out of 35 full teams in
their Division 1 race in
Portage Saturday.
Tatum Verburg, a senior,
led the Scots with a
79th-place time of 20:18.3.
Senior Barbara DeGood was
83rd in 20:21.5 for the Scots,
senior Kaitlynn Robotham
145th in 21:15.8, senior
Taylor Fairchild 175th in
21:51.5 and senior Lola
Schuler 176th in 21:52.0.
West Ottawa had two of
the top three finishers. Junior
Arianne Olson won it in
17:12.8 and freshman team-
mate Helen Sachs was third
in 17:26.1, setting a new PR
in the run. Ann Arbor Pioneer
sophomore Rachel Forsyth
was the runner-up in 17:26.0.
Forsyth’s Pioneer team
won the girls’ race with 62
points. Saline was second
with 133, ahead of West
Ottawa 140, Hilliard
Davidson 199 and Romeo
221 in the top five.