OVID-ELSIE — Rarely, if ever, does a Corunna football team sporting a 7-1 record and eyeing the post-season lose a non-conference game. Yet that’s exactly what happened October 21 at Mark O’Donnell Field, when the host Marauders pinned their ears back, eking out a 21-20 prep football win over their longtime Shiawassee County rivals.
Both teams stood 7-2 overall entering the MHSAA playoffs … after this slugfest. Ovid-Elsie drew Almont, Corunna drew Williamston on the opening night of the post-season, October 28.
Historically, the Cavaliers are the 100th (out of 488) best-winning team in Michigan, with a 393-265 record since 1950 (.596).
The Cavs were gunning to inch closer to the prestigious 400 Club, seemingly on their way when Wyatt Bower hit Jaden Edington with a 54-yard TD pass to open the scoring at 8:46 of the first quarter. Payton Brown kicked the PAT for a 7-0 Cavalier lead. The Marauders got within a point at 10:22 of the second frame. Tryce Tokar fired a 5-yard strike to Clay Wittenberg. The two-point conversion pass failed, however, Corunna maintaining the lead at 7-6.
Edington went to work again in the third quarter. He barreled in from six yards out, Brown tacked on the PAT kick, giving the Cavaliers a 14-6 advantage.
That proved to be the last time CHS would score. That’s also when the Ovid-Elsie Thrill Show (just in time for Halloween) began.
O-E capped a clutch, 85-yard drive that started with just 3:13 left in the contest, Tokar hitting Braxton Stenger on a 7-yard completion with :15 seconds left to play. The pair teamed up again on the two-point conversion, knotting the score at 14-14 and forcing overtime.
O-E struck first in OT, Perrien Rasch running to paydirt from 6 yards out. The eventual winning points came on Julien Mortier’s PAT boot; O-E now leading, 21-14.
No win over Corunna is easy. The Cavs mauled their way to the one-yard line, where Edington scored again on a short blast. The Cavs next lined up for the two-point try to win it — the “swinging gate” they call it, with the center eligible on the end of the line after teammates shift, all to one side. But Bower’s pass got tipped, Tokar came down with the interception, setting off pandemonium for the Marauders and their frenzied sideline. “We were gritty — we just keep fighting man, this team in resilient,” said coach Travis Long after the game. “We’ve got some warriors and I’m so proud of them.”
Ovid-Elsie out-gained the visitors, 305-249, with Tokar completing 9-of-20 passes for 104 yards, two TDs and an interception. Bower was 6-of-9 for 96 yards, a TD and the one crucial pick. Wittenberg caught 5 Tokar aerials for 62 yards, Stenger 3 for 31 and Logan Thompson one for 11.
The Marauders rolled to 201 yard on the ground, Tokar leading the way with 14 carries for 79 yards. Carter Kelley rushed 10 times for 44, Rasch 8 for 37, Thompson 9 for 27 and Jamison Custer 6 for 14.
The Marauder defense, as it has been the last several weeks, was a main storyline of the game. They forced five turnovers, turning the tide of the outcome. Kevin Ley was O-E’s top tackler with 8, four of them solo; Wittenberg, Beau Price, Rasch, Tokar, Cole Workman, Justin Cole, Kelley, Landon Stoneman, Joe Bancroft, Dawson Taylor and Custer were all credited with stops for the victors.
