Football Finals: Div. 1

Ford Field- It’s the oldest cliché in the book, “Offense puts fans in the seats but defense wins championships”, that phrase was made evident as Detroit Catholic Central pounded the football and put a choke hold on Sterling Height Stevenson’s passing attack to secure the Division 1 state championship 31-21.

All year long Sterling Heights Stevenson sat on top of all the polls because of their offenses’ ability to just rack up yards and put up points with their passing game.  But the success of that spread offense disappeared against the state’s best defense.  “Football hasn’t changed through out the years, it still comes down to having to block and tackle,” said Catholic Central Coach Tom Mach. 

That quote by Coach Mach sums up the four quarters of the Div. 1 finals.  It was old school smash mouth football vs. that nower days exciting five receiver spread offense.  Two great teams but on completely different sides of the spectrum! 

Stevenson is too good of a team, and can score too quickly to get blown out but a 21-3 halftime deficit was just too much to overcome.  “We had too many mistakes, we were down in the red zone three times and couldn’t come up with points, we missed a field goal, and had a punt block, and I threw two interceptions,” explained Stevenson quarterback Jason Fracassa. 

Those were all Stevenson mishaps but credit has to be given to Catholic Central.  The Shamrocks dominated the time of possession forcing Fracassa and company to be a little impatient and forceful when they were on the field.  Catholic Central put up points on their first two possessions, eating up the clock with a 12 play 80 yard drive and a 12 play 61 yard drive.  

The Shamrock special team unit made their mark on the game when Anthony Seling blocked a Stevenson punt giving C.C. a short field. Four plays later Niko Palazeti pounded in the touchdown. 

A 20 yard field goal and a 75 touchdown pass from Fracassa to DJ Mershman cut the C.C. lead to 21-14 but Stevenson would get no closer as the Shamrocks answered right back with another 12 play 80 yard drive that was capped by a 9 yard run from Anthony Capatina.

BREAKDOWN

Catholic Central- Catholic Central is run dominate and had the toughest defense against  the run in the state.  I was unsure if they would be able to contain the Stevenson pass attack and pass the ball their selves when needed. 

Well….they never needed to pass and they completely locked up the Stevenson receivers and constantly put Fracassa on his back.  C.C.’s linebackers and defensive backs did a fabulous job of stay with the receivers and laying the wood as soon as the ball got there.

Stevenson- loosing both feature backs, including big time playmaker Justice Wright, to injuries, forced Stevenson to throw more than they were accustomed to.  CC was able to sit back in coverage and blitz at will.  But what killed Stevenson was their inability to stop the C.C. run game.  You know C.C. is going to get theirs on the ground but I thought Stevenson had the size and strength to be better prepared to slow down the run game. 

Player of Game: Anthony Capatina and Niko Palazeti, C.C.- the Shamrock backfield took turns rushing the ball and racked up a combined 335 yards and four TDs, 188 and 146 respectfully.  The duo complements each other well, “Anthony has the speed to get outside and make big plays while I just like to run into people,” joked the 6-2/ 245 pound Palazeti.

Other Notable Performances (In Alpha Order)

Butch Herzog, CC- we know the LB can play between the tackles but he impressed a lot of people by stepping out and defending Stevenson’s slot receiver. 

Michael Kinville, CC- another week and another fine performance by the tight end and middle LB. 

DJ Mershman, Stevenson- finished with 6 catches for 162 yards and a TD.  Took plenty of hits going across the middle but got up and kept going at CC. 

Charlie Walker, Stevenson- I’m a big fan of the 6-4/ 210 pound OLB but he had a tough day against CC., he took plenty of hits from fullbacks and other lead blocks but he held on and did his best to wrap up. 

Justice Wright, Stevenson- missed all of the playoffs but came back to play in the final game with a torn ACL.  Wright was unable to play RB but lined up as a receiver and looked good on one leg with 3 catches for 56 yards and a TD.