Cards Not Ready To Say Farwell
To Furno Just Yet
Legends High -
Matthew A. Anderson
The
coaching career of Tim Furno at
Millington isn't quite finished
yet and who knows, it might not
be for another two weeks.
Millington moved 1 step closer
to making after Thanksgiving
plans in Detroit.
Ovid-Elsie and Millington
slugged it out in the first half
by answering each other with big
play after big play.
Halfway into the opening
quarter, O-E's Superback, Chris
Robinson, opened the scoring
with a 56 yard TD run.
Defense took over for the rest
of the 1st quarter and most of
the 2nd. Then after only 7
points were scored in the first
22 minutes of the first half, 21
were scored in the last 2
minutes of it.
Millington RB Cameron Wilson
tied the game with an 8 yard run
with 2:10 to go in the half.
The Ovid-Elsie quickly responded
with a great drive that was
capped off by a 5 yard score
with only 34 seconds left in the
half. It looked like
Ovid-Elsie was going to go into
the lockers up 14-7. Then
with just 6 seconds left in the
half, Wilson got the carry
again, busting off a 44 yard
score to tie the game as time
expired on the first half.
The game would stay tied all the
way through the third quarter.
On the very first play of the
final quarter, Robinson struck
again. This time for 66
yards and score, giving the
Marauders a 21-14 lead.
With all of the momentum on the
side of the home team, O-E held
on defense as well but when the
Cards needed it most, they
forced a turnover and go the
ball at their own 47 with still
plenty of time remaining in the
game. The Cardinals went
the distance and capped off the
drive with another Wilson score,
this one from 5 yards out.
With 4:51 to play in the game,
Furno rolled the dice and went
'all in". The Cards went
for 2 and once again, Wilson
answered the call and powered
his way just over the goaline.
There was still a ton of time
left however.
Ovid-Elsie got the ball and
begin to put together a march of
their own. Several plays
into the drive and a first down
run later, Robinson went down on
the tackle and didn't get up
until several minutes later.
When he returned, he was able to
go but just couldn't run with
the same authority. Ovid
was forced into a 4th and 7 by a
stingy Millington defense and
with just over a minute to play,
it was the ballgame. The
Ovid-Elsie QB rolled left and as
he was pressured released the
ball towards a wide open
Marauder but the ball was out of
reach and the celebration began
for the visiting Cardinals.
Though it may be looked at as
somewhat of an upset, that
doesn't even begin to tell the
story. The Cards had to
pull through against the
undefeated Marauders basically
without two of their most
integral players. Cards'
1900 yard Running Back, Justin
Stutler was in and out of school
with the flu this past week,
which as a result limited his
playing time tonight.
Enter Cameron Wilson, aka
Super-Sub, at least for Friday
night. It's hard to label
anyone with the type of
performance that Wilson had, a
'Sub'. Wilson finished
with 196 yards and 3 touchdowns,
Robinson also had 3 scores and
206 yards for Ovid-Elsie.
Wilson got first-team reps in
practice this week, so he was
ready for the challenge and
proved it tonight.
After two runs and a knee, the
clock ran out and the Cardinal
bench and stands rushed the
field. It was an emotional
scene across the field.
For the first time since '99,
the Cards are headed back to the
'Final 4' and will face the
winner of tomorrow's Menominee
vs. Clare match-up.
I have to tell you from my own
viewpoint. Before this
season started, I thought there
was no way Ovid-Elsie could pull
what they did last year.
They had Robinson and that's a
special weapon but they lost so
many starters and so much
leadership. What they did
this year as a team with so many
fresh faces speaks volumes about
the Coaching staff and the
program. The Marauders
have every reason to be proud on
this Friday night.
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