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www.mybaycity.com October 30, 2011
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Western 10/28/2011 -- Continued

October 30, 2011       Leave a Comment
By: John Keuvelaar

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Western took the second half kickoff and went to their pitch and catch side pass game. While they moved the ball, they were forced to punt with the ball being caught on the 5 yard line. Western's defense held and on third down, they foiled the Chief's long pass thoughts with good coverage and forced Bolas to run. Disaster for Okemos almost happened when Bolas twisted his knee going down. But the gutsy QB refused to stay down and continued to play although this altered the Okemos offense slightly the rest of the way some.

After a good return by Kuch to Okemos 36, Pichiotino ran and passed the Warrior offense down field before running it in on a "not to be denied" 1 yard run making it 29-21.

As they had all night, Okemos moved the ball down field again. Aided by a long pass set up by a scramble, Okemos was poised to score again. But the Warrior defense came up big forcing a Doug Kim 32 yard field goal and a 32-21 lead going into the fourth quarter.

As he had all night, Charles Proctor came up big for Western on their next possession. First he took a swing pass and ran 9 yards. A hitting out of bounds penalty tacked on 15 more yards to the play. Moments later, Pichiotino rolled to his left and hit Proctor down the sidelines. The junior receiver went airborne again for a beautiful diving catch at the 19. On third down at the five, Proctor went in motion crossing the field then slipped just inside the goal line for a touchdown pass. Going for two points, Pichiotino threw a fade pass into the end zone to Chris Baba. The senior receiver out jumped his tightly guarded defender for the conversion narrowing the margin to 32-29.

Okemos would not be fazed. Looking to grind time off the clock, they turned to their power running of Horne. Pounding him in the middle of the Warrior defense, they piece by piece, moved the ball down field. Aided by a pass interference penalty, Okemos finally scored when Bolas hit Sorber on a 17 yard back side post pattern making it 39-29.

Things looked bleak for the Warriors. A missed handled kickoff and a dropped snap had the Warriors in trouble. Then Pichiotino kept scrambling until he found Vachon down the sidelines for a 12 yard reception and a first down. A swing pass to Baba, a short out to Kuch and the Warriors appeared to be rolling. But soon, they were on life support as an incompletion, a batted down pass and a slip and fall by a receiver had them fourth and 10. Then the Warrior line gave Pichiotino plenty of time to scan the field were he found Chris Baba over the middle at the 6 and Western's hopes were still alive. From there Pichiotino took it in and just like that it was 39-36.

Taking a page from last weeks Central contest, the Warriors executed an onside kick to perfection recovering the ball at midfield. Needing to not only score but take as much time off the clock as possible, Western turned to the run. Running to their right, the Western offense pounded the Okemos left side as Pichiotino moved the ball to the 30, then 24 and after a late hit, to the 12. In total "We are not done yet" determination, Pichiotino took the ball off right tackle and raced into the end zone putting the Warriors up 43-39.

While the score put the Warriors on top, they had left too much time on the clock to hold off Okemos. With just over three minutes to play, Okemos pounded between the tackles and moved the football. Aided by a pass interference, they were on Western's 20 with 1:34 on the clock. Rushing to the 11 yard line with 53 seconds to play, Horne powered off the left side, breaking tackles and bulldozing his way into the end zone with 48 ticks on the clock leading 46-43.

Western was not done yet, when two out patterns and a screen pass left them at fourth down and 4 with 21 seconds to play, Pichiotino kept them alive. Finding no open receivers deep, he took off running the ball to the Okemos 35 yard line. With ten seconds left, he looked deep again but was sacked. Then with three seconds, it was the Hail Mary pass. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they didn't have the same luck as MSU had and the pass pinballed off several receivers and defenders before it hit the turf ending the hopes and season for Western.

It was a well played gutsy performance by both teams. While Western no doubt was disappointed in the loss, they will soon take pride in the determination and the way they fought back to be within a breath of victory.

While there were outstanding efforts by everyone, statistically the Western offense was lead by Austin Pichiotino who ran for 180 yards on 36 carries to go with his 21 for 36 throwing for 198 yards or 378 yards of total offense. Charles Proctor had 8 catches for 69 yards and 2 TDs with Nick Vachon hauling in 3 balls for 54 yards, Tyler Kuch had 6 receptions for 69 yards and Chris Baba grabbed three balls for 31 yards and a key two point conversion.

Okemos was lead by quarterback Jonny Bolas. He was a perfect 6 for 6 passing for 160 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 120 yards on 17 carries. Brycen Sorber caught 5 of those balls for 135 yards while Ian Horne ran for 184 yards on 18 carries.

It was a great season for the Warriors who battled for a 7-3 record while treating their fans with some excellent football efforts.



Brycen Sorber catches a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Austin Bauer brings down the Chief with some help.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Austin Pichiotino finds the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Cameron Roth grabs a hold of Jonny Bolas.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Chris Baba fights for yardage down the sidelines.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Austin Pichiotino fires a pass to the outside receiver as Henry Pfundt protects his passer.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)

Austin Pichiotino keeps the Western hopes alive as he runs to the Okemoas 35 with 10 seconds to play.
(MyBayCity Photo by John Keuvelaar)






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John Keuvelaar

John Keuvelaar is a college student at Midwest Photography Workshops and Delta College.

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