Post by Todd B on Sept 29, 2007 16:50:42 GMT -5
Big second half propels Vikings
By: Niles Kruger story
updated September 29. 2007 1:38AM
www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/SPORTS/109290047
DUNDEE - Eric Dermanelian has been sick all week.
He missed two days of school and didn't practice at all with Dundee's football team.
But coach Ryan Irwin asked him for one play and the junior delivered to help the Vikings beat arch-rival Ida 34-0 Friday night.
"Coach asked me if I was ready to play and I said I would do my best," Dermanelian said.
Dundee needed his best.
The game was scoreless at halftime, but the Dundee coaches had spotted a weakness in the Ida offense that they wanted to exploit.
They needed a back with the quickness to do it.
Dermanelian has the speed, but he didn't play at all in the first half because of illness.
"I said to him at halftime, ‘Man, we really need you. Can you give me one play?" Irwin recalled.
That one play was the first play of the second half.
Dermanelian took the ball around the left end, eluded a tackler by cutting back to the middle and ran 60 yards for the first points of the night.
"There were a bunch of key blocks," Dermanelian said. "Jesse Williams got a big block and the whole line did a good job."
One play changed the entire game.
"I think when we got that touchdown, it gave us such a big momentum swing," Irwin said. "We tell the kids over and over that they have to believe, but sometimes I think this team almost needs a big play to believe."
Many other big plays followed that.
Less than a minute later, Jimmy Rowe picked up an Ida fumble and raced 33 yards for a touchdown.
Suddenly, a scoreless game turned into a 14-0 Dundee lead.
"The scoop and score (Rowe's TD) and a few penalties really changed the game," Ida coach Tom Walentowski said. "You give a team momentum like that and the ball just gets rolling. Then, you try and force some things and it gets worse."
Before the third quarter ended, Dermanelian scored another touchdown on a 36-yard run.
Joe Lake added icing to Dundee's homecoming win with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a 92-yard run and a 60-yard interception return.
"What a crazy game," said Irwin, whose team scored 34 points in the second half without picking up a first down.
Dundee had just 47 rushing yards in the first half, but Lake wound up running for 131 yards on 15 carries and Dermanelian had 96 on just three tries.
"At halftime, the coaches had a big talk with the offensive line. They really got it in gear," said Dermanelian said, crediting Rowe, Josh Chambers, Josh Rose, Alex Hearst, Zak Highers and Chris Eggert.
The defense had it in gear the entire game, forcing five turnovers and limiting the Blue Streaks to 211 yards of total offense.
"With the exception of the Blissfield game, the defense has been good all year," Irwin said.
Todd Sawyer led the defense with 15 tackles, Joe Hoffman had 12 stops and Williams had 8, including 2 for loss. Williams and Eggert recovered fumbles.
The win moved Dundee to 4-2. The Vikings need to win two of their final three games to earn their first state playoff berth since 2001.
"This is huge," Irwin said. "Our kids were saying before the game that this almost feels like a playoff atmosphere. I told them that it should. It was like a playoff game for us."
"I think we're going to make it," Dermanelian said.
Walentowski was pleased with the way his defense, led by Grant Heller and Justin Heiserman, played in the first half, but said consistency continues to elude the Blue Streaks.
"We haven't played four quarters in a game all season," he said. "You can't make mistakes and expect to win consistently."
Lyle Pavuk rushed for 95 yards on 22 carries for Ida (2-4).
Dundee 0 0 21 13 - 34
Ida 0 0 0 0 - 0
Third Quarter
D - Eric Dermanelian 60 run (Joe Hoffman kick)
D - Jimmy Rowe 33 fumble return (Hoffman kick)
D - Dermanelian 36 run (Hoffman kick)
Fourth Quarter
D - Joe Lake 90 run (kick failed)
D - Lake 60 interception return (Hoffman kick)
By: Niles Kruger story
updated September 29. 2007 1:38AM
www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/SPORTS/109290047
DUNDEE - Eric Dermanelian has been sick all week.
He missed two days of school and didn't practice at all with Dundee's football team.
But coach Ryan Irwin asked him for one play and the junior delivered to help the Vikings beat arch-rival Ida 34-0 Friday night.
"Coach asked me if I was ready to play and I said I would do my best," Dermanelian said.
Dundee needed his best.
The game was scoreless at halftime, but the Dundee coaches had spotted a weakness in the Ida offense that they wanted to exploit.
They needed a back with the quickness to do it.
Dermanelian has the speed, but he didn't play at all in the first half because of illness.
"I said to him at halftime, ‘Man, we really need you. Can you give me one play?" Irwin recalled.
That one play was the first play of the second half.
Dermanelian took the ball around the left end, eluded a tackler by cutting back to the middle and ran 60 yards for the first points of the night.
"There were a bunch of key blocks," Dermanelian said. "Jesse Williams got a big block and the whole line did a good job."
One play changed the entire game.
"I think when we got that touchdown, it gave us such a big momentum swing," Irwin said. "We tell the kids over and over that they have to believe, but sometimes I think this team almost needs a big play to believe."
Many other big plays followed that.
Less than a minute later, Jimmy Rowe picked up an Ida fumble and raced 33 yards for a touchdown.
Suddenly, a scoreless game turned into a 14-0 Dundee lead.
"The scoop and score (Rowe's TD) and a few penalties really changed the game," Ida coach Tom Walentowski said. "You give a team momentum like that and the ball just gets rolling. Then, you try and force some things and it gets worse."
Before the third quarter ended, Dermanelian scored another touchdown on a 36-yard run.
Joe Lake added icing to Dundee's homecoming win with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a 92-yard run and a 60-yard interception return.
"What a crazy game," said Irwin, whose team scored 34 points in the second half without picking up a first down.
Dundee had just 47 rushing yards in the first half, but Lake wound up running for 131 yards on 15 carries and Dermanelian had 96 on just three tries.
"At halftime, the coaches had a big talk with the offensive line. They really got it in gear," said Dermanelian said, crediting Rowe, Josh Chambers, Josh Rose, Alex Hearst, Zak Highers and Chris Eggert.
The defense had it in gear the entire game, forcing five turnovers and limiting the Blue Streaks to 211 yards of total offense.
"With the exception of the Blissfield game, the defense has been good all year," Irwin said.
Todd Sawyer led the defense with 15 tackles, Joe Hoffman had 12 stops and Williams had 8, including 2 for loss. Williams and Eggert recovered fumbles.
The win moved Dundee to 4-2. The Vikings need to win two of their final three games to earn their first state playoff berth since 2001.
"This is huge," Irwin said. "Our kids were saying before the game that this almost feels like a playoff atmosphere. I told them that it should. It was like a playoff game for us."
"I think we're going to make it," Dermanelian said.
Walentowski was pleased with the way his defense, led by Grant Heller and Justin Heiserman, played in the first half, but said consistency continues to elude the Blue Streaks.
"We haven't played four quarters in a game all season," he said. "You can't make mistakes and expect to win consistently."
Lyle Pavuk rushed for 95 yards on 22 carries for Ida (2-4).
Dundee 0 0 21 13 - 34
Ida 0 0 0 0 - 0
Third Quarter
D - Eric Dermanelian 60 run (Joe Hoffman kick)
D - Jimmy Rowe 33 fumble return (Hoffman kick)
D - Dermanelian 36 run (Hoffman kick)
Fourth Quarter
D - Joe Lake 90 run (kick failed)
D - Lake 60 interception return (Hoffman kick)