Grass Lake, MI. – On a beautiful, unseasonably warm Michigan Fall evening, the Napoleon Pirates Junior Varsity football team traveled north to take on the Warriors of Grass Lake and try to keep their undefeated season going. They did just that, easily defeating the Warriors, 52-8.
The Pirates received the ball first, and it only took a couple of plays and less than 2 minutes for them to open the scoring with a big rushing touchdown from Henry Laretz, and Brayden Rendall rushed in for the two-point conversion. After the Warriors drove down the field, the Pirates stopped them on fourth down, but the Warriors quickly got the ball back minutes later after a fumble recovery.
On third down and long, thanks to a tough Pirates defense, the Warriors quarterback Brady Westcott completed a pass to LeMar Zegarlowicz, who ran the ball all the way down to the Pirates’ 1-yard line, setting them up for first down and goal for his team. But the Pirates’ defense came up big, moving the Warriors back to the 5 and setting up a fourth down.
But on the fourth-down pass attempt, pass interference was called on the Pirates, giving the Warriors fourth down and goal from the two after moving the ball half the distance to the goal line. Warriors quarterback Westcott ran it in on the next play, and then the Warriors converted on the two-point conversion, tying the game up at 8.
But the Pirates came right back with a great kickoff return from Rendall, who returned the ball to the Warriors’ 15, and then Laretz got his second touchdown of the night, and then he took it in for the two-point conversion, giving the Pirates a 16-8 lead. With the Warriors driving again, it was Isaac Murphy jumping in front of the Warriors receiver and intercepting the ball, and returning it long, giving his Pirates great field position. Laretz ran the ball in from the 9-yard line for his third score of the night at about the 3-minute mark of the second quarter, and Brycen Nall scored on the two-point conversion, giving the Pirates a big 24-8 lead right before halftime.
The Warriors received the ball after halftime, but the Pirates’ defense came up big again, stopping them on a fourth down. At the six-minute mark, it was Laretz getting his 4th score of the night, running the ball 47 yards into the end zone. The two-point conversion was stopped, but the Pirates had a very commanding 30-8 lead. Just a few plays later, it was the Pirates stripping the Warriors’ running back of the ball and recovering the fumble, and just a few plays later it was Laretz once again scoring big, this time on a 46-yard run. Charleston Holbrook caught the pass from Karson Graham for the 2-point conversion, giving the Pirates a 38-8 lead.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, it was Rendall darting 52 yards down the left side of the field for another Pirates score. The two-point conversion was stopped with the Pirates up 44-8. After another great stand by the Pirates’ defense and a touchdown by the Warriors called back by a huge penalty, it was Julian Price dashing 50 yards down the left sideline before being knocked out of bounds near the goal line, setting the Pirates up with a first-and-goal with less than two minutes left to go in the game. Max Job would run it in for the Pirates, and with the two-point conversion good, it gave the Pirates a big 52-8 lead with about a minute and a half to go.
The Pirates’ defense came up strong, shutting the Warriors down and giving them a huge victory and keeping their undefeated season intact behind great team play and coaching, and also much fan support. The Pirates fanbase looked larger than the Warriors’.
The Warriors will travel to Addison for a 6 o’clock kickoff on the 19th, while the Pirates ( 7-0) will travel to Brooklyn Columbia Central for a 6 o’clock kickoff on the 19th. The Pirates are putting on a spectacular show this season, scoring 364 points over 7 games and averaging 52 points per game while allowing only 48, or less than 7, points per game.
