By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Rochester Hills — One win to go.
GHS #25 Chase Burnett rushed for three touchdowns and the Martian defense held the Harper Woods Pioneers to just 48 yards on the ground as Goodrich punched their ticket to the state finals with a 28-14 win on Nov. 23 at Stoney Creek-Rochester. It will be the Martians second trip to the big dance at Ford Field in three years.
“These kids have done it all year,” said Martian Head Coach Tom Alward. “They were willing to put in the work and prepare. Each game this season they got ready to play and now delivered their best performance for Harper Woods. The defense jumped routes all day, it was really fun to see.”
“Harper Woods has athletes everywhere, we knew they wanted to throw the ball,” he said. “Our kids played lights out. Each one of our linebackers had an interception and we shut the run down.”
The Martians dominated the Pioneers with 17 first downs to just seven. The Pioneers would have the ball just 12:58 minutes compared to the Martians 29:20 minutes.
“They can’t score if we have the ball,” added Alward. “While the win was great, it was bittersweet due the season ending injury to Luke Alward.”
During the game Alward a Martian Senior who played the last three seasons, including at Ford Field in 2022 suffered a compound break of both bones in the lower leg and was carted off the field. Alward is expected to make a full recovery.
The Martians kept the ball on the ground with 205 yards rushing and just 31 yards in the air. The Pioneers were penalized seven times for 57 yards while the Martians drew four penalties for 40 yards.
“The game got chippy,” he said. “We remained our kids not to engage. It happens, it’s an emotional game.”
GHS #25 Chase Burnett opened the scoring in the first quarter with a three yard run. In the second quarter Burnett took it in from nine yards out and #11 Landon Williams added the extra point giving the Martians a 14-0 lead. Just three minutes later Burnett and the Martians added to the score with a three yard run for the touchdown. With time expiring in the second quarter HWHH #5 JaJuan Jones returned an interception for a touchdown to end the half 21-6.
The third quarter was scoreless, but in the fourth GHS#20 Colton Roe picked off a HWHH #11Nate Rocheleau pass and returned it for a 27 yard touchdown. Williams connected on the point after and the Martians were up 28-6. HWHH Rocheleau completed a pass to HWHH #7 DeAndre Bidden for a 10 yard touchdown with just 9 min
At 7 p.m., Nov. 29 the Goodrich Martians 11-1 will play the Niles Vikings at Ford Field for the Division 4 State Championship.
“Niles is a very physical team, they are a lot like us and can pound the rock on the ground,” said Alward. “We don’t throw the ball and neither do they, so the game will last about 30 minutes.”