TRI-CITY AREA — Almont registered a 58-0 triumph against visiting Imlay City in a Blue Water Area Conference varsity football encounter last Friday night.
With the decision, Almont improves to 3-0 and 2-0. Imlay City falls to 1-2 and 0-2.
“The boys once again put on a great show for the community,” Almont Coach James Leusby commented. “I love the way they played in all three facets of the game,” he noted.
“With the BWAC continuing to get better and better each year, and with us just getting started with what we call the gauntlet of our schedule, we must focus on the details of the little things that we need to fix to reach our goal of being league champions,”
Almont quarterback Chase Davedowski looks to shake the tackle of Imlay City’s Kade VanderPloeg in Friday’s game.
In Friday’s encounter, Almont bolted out to a 28-0 advantage after one quarter was done and widened the gap to 51-0.
The third quarter saw Almont collect seven points and Imlay City none, pushing their cushion to 58-0.
Neither side would score the rest of the way.
Almont produced their winning output aided by a Chase Battani 61-yard touchdown run; a Luke Winkler 54-yard punt return; a Chase Davedowski six-yard touchdown run; a Battani 15-yard touchdown run; a Davedowski four-yard touchdown run; a Battani 22-yard interception return for a touchdown; an Eric Haddon safety; a Winkler 64-yard kickoff return; and a Jacob Fuller 29-yard touchdown return.
All eight of Sean O’Neil’s extra point kicks were successful for Almont.
For the evening, Davedowski attempted just two passes for Almont. Both of those tosses were incomplete.
The Almont ground attack, though, proved tough to stop. The Raiders finished with 279 yards on 20 totes.
Battani (five rushes for 113 yards), Jacob Stewart (94 yards on six totes) and Fuller (four rushes for 42 yards) led Almont. The remaining five Raider totes netted a combined 30-yard gain.
Aiden Oliphant (three solos and two assists) and Battani (two solos and three assists) paced Almont’s defense. They were backed by Haddon (two solos and two assists) and Ayden Ferqueron (one solo and three assists).
The Almont defense also claimed three takeaways. Lucas Mantini, Matthew Bacholzky and Battani (an interception each) provided those.
For the night, Matt Evans completed six of 16 pass plays for 53 yards as Imlay City’s quarterback. He threw three interceptions en route to those numbers.
His successful tosses went to four different targets. Tanner Land (two catches for 30 yards), Travis DuPont (two receptions for 13 yards), Kade VanderPloeg (one catch for six yards) and Andrew Cezik (one reception for four yards) formed that group.
The Imlay City ground attack finished with -4 yards on 21 rushes.
Individually, Cezik (four rushes for 23 yards) and Daniel Rojas (18 yards on three totes) paced Imlay City. The remaining 14 Spartan rushes netted a combined -45 yard loss.
VanderPloeg (four) along with Brady Redd and Travis Tramontana (three each) generated Imlay City’s top tackle outputs.
Almont returns to action this Friday with a road trip to North Branch, while Imlay City travels to Armada. Both Blue Water Area Conference clashes are slated to begin at 7 p.m.
Kevin Kissane
Kevin Kissane has been covering high school sports for the Tri-City Times since 1985. When not standing on a field or court with his camera and notepad, he enjoys golf, travel and family. Kevin is a 1980 graduate of Capac High School, and is also a grad of St. Clair Community College and earned a degree in journalism from Central Michigan University.
