Leonardo
By JAMIE BAKER
- THE COURIER
McCOMB — McComb made it look easy against Fremont St. Joseph Friday night and coach Kris Alge knows things will only get tougher from here on out.
Quarterback Andrew Dee sliced and diced the Crimson Streak defense for 307 yards and six touchdown passes as the Panthers shellacked Fremont St. Joseph 60-0 in a Division VI Region 22 quarterfinal game at Doc Miller Field Friday night.
With the win, McComb (11-0) will take on Mohawk (10-1), a 27-24 winner over Toledo Christian, in next Friday’s regional semifinals.
“They (our players) know everybody’s good. And in the second round, they are even better,” Alge said. “We heard Mohawk won, so we’ll enjoy tonight, watch film tomorrow, watch our ladies in the volleyball match and get back to work on Monday.”
The old adage speed kills couldn’t have been more true Friday night. On offense and defense, the Panthers were a step-and-a-half ahead of the Crimson Streaks (9-2) all night long.
“They looked fast on film and they looked even faster out here on the field. That’s something you can simulate in practice,” said Fremont St. Joseph coach Scott Knisely. “I take my hat off to them, they are a very good football team. They are very well coached, they came out and beat us. It might not show on the scoreboard but our kids fought until the end I didn’t see them give up tonight.”
McComb’s speed advantage was evident from the outset as Dee, who was 29 of 43 passing, hit Jerry Brown for as 9-yard scoring strike, Mason Roth with a 29-yard aerial and Taylor Hanes with a 5-yard scoring pass on McComb’s first three possessions.
Hanes’ scoring reception set a new state record for touchdown catches in a season with 28.
Roth, who had a whale of a game finishing with seven catches for 126 yards, caught an 11-yard touchdown pass on McComb’s next possession and set up a Dee 1-yard TD sneak later in the quarter with a nifty 44-yard punt return.
Brown scored his second touchdown of the contest on a 2-yard run with 34.4 seconds remaining until halftime. The score gave the Panthers a 40-0 halftime lead and was one more blow to the shellshocked crowd from Fremont.
The Panthers played about as well a game as they could have, according to Alge.
“We dropped a few balls maybe because of the weather in the second half. I think we picked up their blitzes pretty well, but we did miss a few of those so our offensive line has to get a little better,” Alge said. “Drew did a nice job finding some guys. He bought us some time, he escaped the pocket a few times looking downfield. Overall, we played a pretty complete game.”
It wasn’t just McComb’s offense that was clicking, the defense dominated a fairly solid Fremont St. Joseph offense.
Running back Zak Bowman, the Midland Athletic League’s leading rusher with 1,148 yards during the regular season, was limited to just 14 yards on 11 carries. Quarterback Matt Mehalko also had a tough day as he carried the ball 11 times for 13 yards and was just 2 of 10 passing for 35 yards.
“We were real concerned about their running game. That No. 20 (Bowman), he’s a player and their quarterback can scramble,” Alge said. “The defense stepped it up. But there were two times the defense made a stop or there was a turnover and we didn’t capitalize. In the playoffs, you have to be able to convert them into points.”
It was more of the same in the second half. Dee fired touchdown passes of 12 and 11 yards to Roth and Brown, respectively in the third quarter before Alge emptied his bench. Dylan Meares capped the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown run with 57.1 seconds left in the contest.
60-0 final