Eagles Fall in Semi-Final

The drive to play in the semi-finals was a long one for the Deckerville Eagles, more than a 3-hour drive southwest of Deckerville, as they took on St. Philip Catholic in semi-final action, on Saturday, November 14.
The weather couldn’t have been better, at least for those taking photos and those watching the game on the artificial turf field, but the Eagles struggled against St. Philip’s.
The first three scores of the first quarter came from St. Philips, on a 17-yard run from Brayden Darr and another one from Darr, this time a 4-yard run. The PAT’s weren’t good either time. But Darr scored again, this time on a 70-yard run, with a good PAT, giving them a 19-0 lead. Brandon Pattullo ran back a kick-off return for 70-yards, giving the Eagles their first score of the game. Austin Fritch ran in the PAT. St. Philip scored on a Brendan Gausselin 4-yard run, with a good PAT. The Eagles scored one more time in the first quarter, this time on a Wyatt Janowiak 57-yard pass, with Jared Philpot getting the PAT. After one quarter of play, the Eagles trailed 16-26.
The Eagles were held scoreless in the second quarter, with Darr scoring two more touchdowns, on a 14-yard pass and 76-yard pass. The first PAT failed, the second was good. The Eagles trailed 39-16 at the half.
Deckerville’s defense held St. Philip’s to one touchdown in the third, a Darr 10-yard run (PAT failed), but the Eagles’ offense couldn’t get on the scoreboard.
St. Philips scored first in the fourth quarter, again by Darr, this time a 29-yard pass (the PAT failed). Jared Philpot scored the final touchdown of the day, on a 4-yard run, with Philpot also getting the PAT. Final score, St. Philip 52, Deckerville 24.
The Eagles had 11 first downs, were 43-141 rushing, and 6-3-88 yards passing, for a total of 229 yards. They had three fumbles, losing two. Jared Philpot led the Eagles rushing 14-76, Austin Fritch 10-37, Matthew Buzzo 2-20, Wade Saldana 4-15, Austin Spaetzel 5-4. The Eagles had 7 penalties for 55 yards.
St.Philip had 15 first downs, were 43-260 rushing, and 15-8-206 passing, for 466 yards. Darr led rushing, 26-194 yards. They had 2 penalties for 10 yards.
Although much of the game was controlled by St. Philip’s, Deckerville’s football team never gave up. The Eagles had a great season, losing only one regular game to Morrice, and getting into the post season. The Eagles will lose six seniors due to graduation for next year – D.J. Fritch, Colton Palmer, Matthew Buzzo, Jared Philpot, Michael Schweitzer and Theadore Thayer.