Here we are again. It’s Friday night. The crisp, not quite cold October air has settled in. The Friday Night Lights are shining bright at Jamie Gent Stadium in Haslett. It’s time to play some football.

Last week your Friday Night Heroes “took it on the chin” against Mason. Coach Schmitt said “after the loss to Mason, we didn’t even talk about the game. That wasn’t the focus. We focused on maintaining composure.” It’s time to find out if they can bounce back against a “tougher than their record shows” Haslett team. St. Johns is 5-1 and Haslett is 3-3 with losses to the local bullies Mason and DeWitt and a loss to Fenton.

St. Johns opens up play with a stunning 3 play drive and before you have a chance to put mustard on the concession stand hotdog, it’s 7-0.

Haslett takes over and thanks to some big hits they are playing from behind the sticks. Eventually their 8 play drive stalls out and they have to punt. But what a punt! St. Johns is pinned deep to start their second drive of the night. St. Johns can drive the ball though. Old school, smash mouth football. The kind of ball that changed Hugh, Wayne Woodrow, and Glen Edward into Duffy, Woody and Bo. Eventually the drive stalls and St. Johns turns it over on downs.

Haslett takes over again. A questionable Pass Interference penalty gives Haslett good field position up around the 50. But two huge tackles for loss take all of that away and Haslett is forced to punt.

Did I mention that Haslett can punt? Once again the Redwings are pinned deep. Big run gets them out of trouble but Haslett’s huge Defensive Line stiffens and St. Johns is forced to punt the ball away.

Haslett starts on their own 33 and comes out passing the ball. That goes bad and it goes bad in a hurry with a pick six. St. Johns is up 14-0 with 5:29 in the 2nd quarter.

Haslett seemed to come to life after the St. Johns touchdown. After having a touchdown, taken off the board for a Block In The Back penalty. They start driving the ball. With 2:45 in the half they finally get on the board with a TD or their own making it 14-7.

After the kick, St. Johns is pinned deep and manages to run out the clock to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room.

The teams return, the marching band yields and it’s time to get the 2nd half going.

St. Johns kicks off to start the half and The Vikings get a huge return. Hope you were back from concessions because just like that it’s a tie ball game.

Haslett forces a 3 and out. There is a problem with the punt and Haslett is going to make St. Johns pay on the next play with a huge pass for a TD. Haslett is up 21-14.

The game is kind of a back and forth for a while, St. Johns had some chances with a couple of fumble recoveries and some decent drives that ultimately stalled out.

Haslett had a big run at the end to make it difficult to overcome 28-14 with 3:28 left in the 4th.
A pick six with 1:59 to play was the coup de gras. 35-14 Haslett get’s the victory and moves to 4-3, while the Redwings fall to 5-2.

“We missed a lot of opportunities this week and it hurt us,” Coach Schmitt said after the game, “but the final score is not really an indicator of how close the game was. The big run and the pick six at the very end inflate the score.”

Next week is Senior Night and Ionia is coming to town. “Ionia is tough, they return 10 starters on the defense and nobody is really able to run against them,” says Schmitt.

Please come out and support the Seniors, not only on the Football Team, but the Cheerleaders and the Marching Band as well. Plus it’s Ionia. Let’s fill the stands and get a win over the Bulldogs.

Dan Ward- You probably know me

Cover photo by Glenn Armstrong