Raiders take complete control of BWAC race with 30-20 victory at home
ALMONT — Almont (no. 2, Division 6) came out on top of a 30-20 verdict over visiting Cros-Lex (no. 8, Division 4) in a Blue Water Area Conference varsity football showdown last Friday night.
With the decision, Almont moves to 6-0 and 5-0. Cros-Lex slips to 5-1 and 4-1.
“The extra media coverage definitely added to our player’s excitement and nerves,” Almont Coach James Leusby commented. “It was an awesome atmosphere it created for a high school football game in our town, he noted.
Almont’s Luke Winkler (#81) battles a Cros-Lex foe for the football in Friday’s clash.
“After the first quarter we seemed to block out the extra noise and focused on playing Almont football, I am proud of the way we handled everything and happy we were able to pull out the victory tonight. It was definitely a team win, we had players cramping up all night and a few injuries that led to other players having to step up and fill in without missing a beat.”
In Friday’s showdown, Almont spotted Cros-Lex a 6-0 edge after one quarter was over with.
Almont then bounced back with a 9-0 second quarter advantage, good for a 9-6 lead at the halftime break.
When the action resumed, Almont picked up where they left off. Aided by a 7-0 third quarter edge, the Raiders increased their cushion to 16-6 with 36 minutes elapsed.
Both sides generated 14 points during the final quarter of play, leaving Almont with a 30-20 win to celebrated at night’s end.
Almont generated their 30-point total aided by a Luke Winkler 72-yard touchdown run; a Sean O’Neil 27-yard field goal; a Matthew Bacholzky 22-yard touchdown run (followed by a successful extra point kick courtesy of O’Neill; a Winkler 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown (followed by an accurate extra point boot from O’Neill); and an Ayden Ferqueron 48-yard touchdown run (followed by a successful extra point kick courtesy of O’Neil).
For the evening, Chase Davedowski completed zero of three pass plays for as Almont’s quarterback. He threw zero interceptions en route to those numbers.
The Almont ground attack chewed up 272 yards of territory on 29 totes.
Individually, Winkler (six rushes for 97 yards) and Ayden Ferqueron (51 yards on two totes) proved Almont’s toughest players to stop. Bacholzky (three rushes for 44 yards) and Chase Battani (36 yards on seven totes) supported their performances. The remaining 11 Raider rushes netted a combined 44-yard gain.
Bacholzky (eight solos and eight assists) and Ayden Ferqueron (eight solos and five assist generated Almont’s highest tackle totals. They were backed by Battani (one solo and 10 assists), Jacob Fuller (four solos and six assists), Cohen Ferqueron (one solo and eight assists), Tim Miller (two solos and five assists), Gordon Stolecki (seven assists) and Yousif Abu Joudeh (five assists).
The Almont defense also registered two takeaways. Cohen Ferqueron (a fumble recovery) and Winkler (an interception) furnished those.
Almont will aim to keep their perfect record intact this Friday when it travels to Richmond for a Blue Water Area Conference game. That matchup lists a 7 p.m. starting time.
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.
