Pioneers win Division Four State Crown.
Written Saturday November 25th at 5:00 PM
“To be the man you have to beat the man” That is the quote from Hall of Fame and former WWE superstar and current AEW star Ric Flair.
For the Pioneers and Coach Ron Oden, they had to beat the finalists from last season’s Division Four State Champions in the last two weeks.
In the postseason they have played some really tough competition in Croswell-Lexington, Marysville, and Carleton Airport and not to mention the two teams that played in the Division Four State title game last season in Goodrich and Grand Rapids South Christian.
Mission accomplished.
Harper Woods had to survive a goal line stand stopping Grand Rapids South Christian at the three yard line to hang on and win 33-27 over the Sailors on Saturday afternoon at Ford Field.
The Sailors were the defending Division Four State Champions and they had no easy road either playing the likes of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern, Big Rapids, and Portland to get to this game.
The Pioneers started off red hot early. They scored on a seven yard touchdown run from Stephone Buford for an early 7-0 lead.
Harper Woods got a defensive stop and then running back Dwight Houston scoring from five yards out and a 14-0 lead for the Pioneers.
Harper Woods had trouble with the Carson Vis/Jake Vermass combination all night. Vas and Vermass connected on a 45 yard passing score for the Sailors cutting the Pioneers lead to 14-7.
Harper Woods would not panic however thanks to the combination of Nate Rocheleau and Dakota Guerrant. They connected from 32 yards out but missed the PAT making the score 20-7 Pioneers. The Sailors did go down the field but Vis was picked in the endzone keeping the score at 20-7 Harper Woods at the half.
The Pioneers started out red hot in the third quarter on a second down and 18 as Rocheleau connected with Ramonty House from 90 yards out and making the score 27-7 Harper Woods.
Grand Rapids South Christian did not back down as they went down the field leading to a one yard score from Charlie Scherur making the score 27-14 Pioneers which ended up being the score after three quarters.
The fourth quarter became a tense drama.
The Sailors had the football and Vis ran the zone read and took it himself from 22 yards out but the PAT was blocked making the score 27-20 Harper Woods.
The Pioneers went down the field again with a huge one yard touchdown on fourth and inches from Buford but they missed the PAT again making the score 33-20 Harper Woods.
Vis did his magic again for Grand Rapids South Christian as he connected with Noah Funk from 12 yards out making the score 33-27 Harper Woods.
The Pioneers did their best to run the clock out but the Sailors got a stop and the ball back.
Grand Rapids South Christian drove down to the Harper Woods three yard line with three seconds left but the Pioneers defensive line forced Vis to throw under pressure and defensive back Kayonte Wilson causing the ball to be incomplete and giving Oden his first State title in school history.
Vis had under 475 yards of total offense. He threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns while adding 72 yards on the ground with one score for the Sailors The Pioneers used a balanced attack with 487 yards total offense (200 rushing, 287 passing) to win this game. Donald Adams had 174 all purpose yards.
The Pioneers lose a ton of proven talent next season but they have a lot coming back as well. Harper Woods can now say they have beaten the best and is among one of the best in Division Four.
Playing an OAA schedule in the last two years has helped the Pioneers and it showed big time. Harper Woods has played powers in West Bloomfield, Adams, Clarkston, Lake Orion, Oak Park, Stoney Creek, Rochester, Bloomfield Hills, and Southfield Arts and Tech. It has helped them for this moment.
Harper Woods can call itself State Champion.