By David Fleet
Editor
Goodrich —The Goodrich Martians Varsity Football team punched their ticket to the Michigan High School Athletic Association semifinals and hoisted their second consecutive Regional Trophy on Nov. 10 with a 24-17 win over the Haslett Vikings at Goodrich.
The Martians are just one win away from playing in the Division 4 state football finals for the second consecutive year. At 1 p.m., Nov. 18, at Franklin High School- the Martians will play the Harper Woods Pioneers (9-3) for a trip to Ford Field.
The Martians (11-1) took a 24-10 lead into the fourth quarter until HHS #2 Kory Amachree snagged a 26 yard touchdown pass for the score. The Martian defense stepped up and held off the Vikings for the win.
“Haslett was able to hang around,” Head Coach Tom Alward. “We have to continue to work on our mistakes and play as error free as possible.”
“As long as our ground game continues to work we’ll do it,” he said. “We’ve had opportunities to put the ball in the air but missed some connections. It does not get any easier here on out. We are up against some very talented football teams. Our kids will be ready.”
The Martian offense tallied a total of 340 yards with 318 on the ground and 22 in the air. The Martian defense held down the Vikings offense with 102 yards rushing and 77 yards passing for a total of 179 yards. The Martians had 18 first downs and held the Vikings to just nine.
GHS Jr. #25 Chase Burnett carried for 156 yards on 25 attempts and two touchdowns, GHS Jr. #9 Max Macklem had four carries for 73 yards with one touchdown and GHS Soph. #24 Jakoby Lagat had six carries for 51 yards.
On defense, GHS Sr. #2 Easton Phipps had three tackles and one assist, GHS Sr. #33 Luke Francis had three tackles along with three assists and GHS Jr. #60 Gavin Sukup also had three tackles coupled the three assists.