Cover photo by Glenn Armstrong (gallery link below)

District Semi-Finals vs. DeWitt

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened- Dr. Seuss
It’s tough though, especially when they play Boys of Fall over the PA at the end of the game.

“Well, it’s turn and face the Stars and Stripes
It’s fighting back them butterflies
It’s call it in the air, alright, yes sir, we want the ball
And it’s knocking heads and talking trash
It’s slinging mud and dirt and grass
It’s I got your number, I got your back when your back’s against the wall
You mess with one man you got us all
The boys of fall.”

Friday night saw the Boys of Fall, or, as we know them around here, The Friday Night Heroes, THE St. Johns Redwings, travel to DeWitt’s Memorial Stadium to compete in the bonus round, the MHSAA Football District Semi-Finals. A perfect fall evening, crisp (which is a nice way of saying cold) air, beautiful sunset, crunchy leaves; you know, football weather.

The DeWitt Panthers are pretty much the Final Boss on Expert Level. They were 9-0 and had outscored their opponents 501-194 coming into Friday Night. In the past 24 years they are 23 time playoff qualifiers, 16 time district champs and yada yada, let’s just say they are a really good program.

I’d love to end this recap with something like “St. Johns catches the Hail Mary in the end zone and steals the game,” or “St. Johns stuns DeWitt 56-0,” but unfortunately that’s just not what happened.

“What did happen?” you ask. Well, let’s talk, shall we?

St. Johns won the coin toss and deferred. The Redwings kicked off and DeWitt drove the field and notched the first points. 7-0. The Panther Defense forced a 3 and out. They returned the punt to their 22 and a couple of plays later they were in the end zone again, making it 14-0.

Thomas Putmon had several nice returns in the game. This one was returned to the St. Johns 28. But DeWitt’s defense forced a 2nd 3 and out and the Redwings are forced to punt. Tyson Smith handled the high snap and his punt was returned to the DeWitt 25. DeWitt had a TD called back on a holding penalty, but it didn’t matter. They scored on the next play to go up 21-0.

St. Johns finally was able to get something going against DeWitt with some razzle dazzle. Tyson Smith connected with Brady Heibeck to the DeWitt 39 to end the 1st quarter. Coach Schmitt dug deep into the playbook and pulled out the double pass. Bryce Pratl to Tyson Smith on the backwards pass and Smith connected with Anthony LaCross for a St. Johns TD. Nolan Koenigsknecht tacked on the extra point and suddenly DeWitt is a little worried with a 21-7 ballgame.

St. Johns tried a little more trickery and attempted an onside kick. The Panthers were able to recover it and looked to be back in control. They moved the ball to the St. Johns 11, 1st and 10. DeWitt drove to the St. Johns 2 yard line. But that was it, as the Wings defense stepped up big and forced the turnover on downs.

With a little under 10 minutes to play St. Johns started a drive for their own 6, playing old school Redwing football and relying on the 2 big backs, Brandon Schomisch and Brady Heibeck. St. Johns started running behind an unbalanced O-Line, taking advantage of the unsung heroes, the guys I affectionately refer to as “The Big Uglies”, Senior Luke Tracy, Junior Gavin Moreno, Senior Robbie Andretz, Senior Kyle Lockwood, Junior Brody Abendroth and several others. The Redwings controled the trenches most of the game and were able to keep the Panther Defense on their heels. With a 17 play 78 yard drive that ate up 8:51, they moved all the way to the Panther 8 yard line. Unfortunately that’s where the drive stalled out, and the Panthers took over on downs with 1:25 left in the 1st half.

Most teams would be content to run out the clock and head to the locker room. But DeWitt never takes their foot off the gas and with :35 ticks left on the clock, they punched it in to make the score 28-7.

The second half started with another old school St. Johns drive, keeping the Panther offense off the field for nearly 6 minutes before being forced to punt. DeWitt took immediate advantage of the extended rest and used one play to notch the first score of the 3rd quarter going up 35-7.

St. Johns started out on another extended drive, eating another 8:51 off the clock and driving 62 yards all the way to the Panther 3 before stalling out and turning the ball over on downs once again.

DeWitt tallied the last points of the game on a 87 yard six play drive, making the final score 42-6.

Gavin Moreno had this to say about the season: “I’m proud of the team and everything we went through. This is a huge step forward.”

Brady Heibeck added, “I love this team and the way we have become a family this season.”

I was in no condition to talk to Coach Schmitt after the game, but in a text message from him on Saturday he said, “[I’m] very proud of our fight last night. We played tough the whole game. We controlled the line of scrimmage on offense through physical play! We just had a hard time limiting their explosive plays.”

To sum up the season, Coach added, “We had a great year this year! A group of hard working, coachable, and tough kids! These young men reset the standard and expectations for this program moving forward. These are great building blocks for the future, and I want to thank them for their efforts and dedication to the football program!”

And there you have it. Your Friday Night Heroes will head into the offseason after a very successful 6-4 season– a huge step forward from last year’s 4-5 season. They will look to make a deep run next year, returning 23 underclassmen, including 5 starters on the offense and 5 on the defense.

As for me, well, look for me here throughout the wrestling season, as I intend to bring you recaps for them as well.

Special thanks to the coaching staff Assistant Coaches: Jake Parker, Bean Barrett, John “Schaum” Archambault, Kevin Pettigrew, Hayden Dyer, Matthew Stephens and Zane Tobin.
Huge shout out to Head Coach Andy Schmitt who tolerated me playing “sports journalist” and was always available to chat with me for a minute, either after the game or the next day.

Also I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Chris Hallead who contacted me after reading the nonsense I posted on Facebook after each game and said, “Would you like to show an entire town how big of an idiot you are?” I’m joking of course, but I seriously do thank him a million. The SJ Sports Page is such a great resource for the community.

Thanks to my friend Heather who proofreads for me despite a 3 hour time difference.

Thanks to everybody that read these recaps and didn’t immediately TP my house. Thanks to all the fans that come to the games and cheer on the boys every Friday night. Your support means the world to these boys whether you know it or not.

Last but not least, Thanks to the team: YOUR St. Johns Redwings, the Friday Night Heroes.

Dan Ward

SJ Vs DeWitt Stats

Click for Photo Gallery by Glenn Armstrong