St. Joseph lands final punch as late blocked punt sinks Portage Central football team
Scott DeCamp | Kalamazoo Gazette, October 02, 2010 12:23 a.m.
Portage Central quarterback Kyle Cutler, center, tries to break through the tackle of St. Joseph's Jalen Holmes, left, during Friday evening's game. - (Jonathon Gruenke | Kalamazoo Gazette)
Portage Central running back Aaron King, center, makes a cut to stay inbounds past St. Joseph's Marcus Valentine, left, during Friday evening's game. - (Jonathon Gruenke | Kalamazoo Gazette)
St. Joseph's Marcus Valentine, center, intercepts a pass intended for Portage Central's Ryan Krill, left, during Friday evening's game. - (Jonathon Gruenke | Kalamazoo Gazette)
PORTAGE � In a battle of Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West Division heavyweights, might as well throw out all the boxing terminology you can.
In Friday�s battle of unbeatens at McCamley Field, St. Joseph landed a couple early haymakers, then Portage Central counterpunched and staggered the Bears.
St. Joseph may have been knocked to the ground, but it didn�t stay down long. The visiting Bears kept swinging and, at the final bell, had toppled P-Central, 35-28.
�I just think they had good execution going. We were kind of on our heels a little bit, yet we responded well,� Mustangs senior Kyle Cutler said of the Bears� quick start, in which the visiting squad jumped out to a 14-0 lead with 2:31 left in the first quarter on a pair of touchdown runs by Eddie Montgomery (21, 10 yards). P-Central had it tied up almost 13 minutes later on Aaron King�s two scoring runs (65, 20 yards).
�They punched first, we came back with a great counterpunch and went into the half tied up (14-apiece),� Cutler added.
St. Joseph�s Ty Taylor blocked Tad Drabik�s punt attempt, scooped the ball and returned it 25 yards with 2:37 remaining to provide the winning score.
�We had some missed assignments (at key times),� said dejected P-Central senior linebacker Nick Price, who had a co-game-high 8.5 tackles. �We have some inexperienced guys in some spots, and it cost us.�
St. Joseph (6-0, 4-0 SMAC West), ranked sixth in this week�s Associated Press Division 3 poll, dominated time of possession throughout most of the game and finished with an overwhelming advantage (33:29-14:31) in that category.
�(The loss) hurts ... it does,� Mustangs coach Mick Enders said. �Just like you heard me telling the kids, I�m proud as heck of them. We had, at one point, seven or eight kids going both ways. We had Nick Price, Kyle Cutler ... the list goes on and on. Just talk about the kids. They battled hard, competed.
�It was a great high school football game � we just made a couple of mistakes down the stretch and you can�t afford to do that.�
The Mustangs (5-1, 3-1) led 28-21 entering the fourth quarter, but the Bears ran 21 plays to P-Central�s four.
St. Joseph (372 yards total offense, 226 rushing) capped a 15-play, 80-yard drive when Montgomery spun into the end zone from 2 yards out. The Bears ate 7:09 off the fourth-quarter clock on that drive.
�It was a great game. We beat a heck of a team,� St. Joseph coach Elliot Uzelac said. �We made one more big play than they did. We made big plays, they made big plays � kids were flying around. We made one big play.�
Montgomery rushed for a game-high 163 yards and the three TDs on 35 carries for St. Joseph, which beat the Mustangs 24-21 last season in the driving rain and strong winds en route to a SMAC West title share with P-Central. Bears quarterback Jeremy Rush was 9-of-12 passing for 146 yards, seven of the completions going to Joel Bergman for 121 yards.
P-Central led twice in the second half, the second time on Price�s 10-yard run in which he bounced off a couple defenders and carried one into the end zone with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. The Mustangs shocked St. Joseph out of the gate in the quarter, when King (146 yards, 10 carries) busted loose for a 64-yard scoring scamper on the first play.
Cutler finished 5-of-13 passing for 109 yards, with two interceptions, for P-Central (283 total yards, 174 rushing). Ryan Krill caught four passes for 92 yards. Cutler and King registered eight stops apiece.
St. Joseph�s Cole Radenbaugh notched 8.5 tackles, with two sacks and a fumble recovery.
�I feel sorry for our next three opponents,� the determined Price said. �We�ll come back strong, I guarantee it. I guarantee it.�
Contact Scott DeCamp at sdecamp@kalamazoogazette.com or 269-388-8518.
Portage Central's Bob Knight, St. Joseph's Ike Muhlenkamp still going strong
Del Newell | Special to the Gazette, October 02, 2010 12:26 a.m.
St. Joseph's Marcus Valentine, center, intercepts a pass intended for Portage Central's Ryan Krill, left, during the first half Friday night at McCamley Field. Valentine had two picks in the Bears' 35-28 win. - (Jonathon Gruenke | Gazette)
Then-head coach Bob Knight talks to a Portage Central player during the 2004 season. Knight, the Mustangs' longtime head coach, is now an assistant with the program he helped build. - (Gazette file)
PORTAGE � Ike Muhlenkamp and Bob Knight have had some titanic battles coaching football against each other.
Muhlenkamp�s St. Joseph teams and Knight�s Portage Central squads have had more showdowns than Wild West shootouts. Big Eight Conference championships, state rankings and playoff berths have often been the stake.
Friday night at McCamley Field, the two coaching legends went against each other again �as varsity assistant football coaches. It was like old times as St. Joseph, aided by a 25-yard blocked punt return by Ty Taylor with 2:37 remaining in the fourth quarter, pulled out a dramatic 35-28 win in a battle of unbeatens.
"It was a great battle, just like all the battles with St. Joe have been," said Knight, who coached the Mustangs for 34 years, produced a 216-108 record and had 11 teams in the playoffs. "We�ve had a lot of great battles. We have a lot of respect for them. Kids on both teams played really hard. We�re disappointed to lose, but we lost to a great program."
Muhlenkamp, who also coached for 34 years, had a 233-111-1 record (including a 22-3 mark at Albion, his first coaching stop). St. Joseph�s program fell on hard times after Muhlenkamp retired, but current coach Elliot Uzelac brought Ike out of retirement as his assistant when he became head coach five years ago.
Uzelac, whose coaching stops included being head coach at Western Michigan University and Navy, along with being a longtime assistant to Bo Schembechler at Michigan, said: "I�m still old school and we�re going to pound the ball."
The Bears did just that, rushing 52 times and gaining 226 yards. Senior Eddie Montgomery, who had rushed for 200 yards in 31 carries through the first five games, had a career night, banging out a game-high 163 yards in 35 carries and scored three times (21, 10 and 2 yards).
Meanwhile, with the Bears (38 plays) playing keepaway most of the second half, Portage Central was able to run off just 14 plays over the last two quarters and rush for a total of 174 yards in only 24 attempts. Aaron King flashed his speed, however, when he got the ball, sprinting to long-distance TDs covering 65 and 64 yards (plus a 2-yarder), and gaining 146 yards on only 10 carries.
WELL-RECEIVED: Although both teams preferred to move the ball via the ground, both had big-play receivers. Ryan Krill caught four passes from Mustang quarterback Kyle Cutler and gained 92 yards. One of Krill�s receptions, between two defenders, went for 29 yards and another for 22 yards that set up Nick Price�s 2-yard TD run that put P-Central ahead 28-21 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter. St. Joseph had a pass-�n-catch team in quarterback Jeremy Rush (9-of-12 passing for 146 yards) and receiver Joel Bergman, who had game-highs of seven receptions and 121 yards.
INJURIES HURT MUSTANGS: Injuries took a toll on Portage Central as running back Brian Wise didn�t play and offensive tackle Nate Jeppesen went out in the first half and didn�t return. Both had leg injuries.
