TC St. Francis rolls over Ubly

Mon, Dec 1, 2008    to del.icio.us

DETROIT (AP) — For a few minutes Saturday, it looked as if Ubly's offense was going to keep rolling along.

After all, the Bearcats (13-1) had put up big numbers on their way to the Division 7 final, and they were marching down the field on the game's first possession.

Nine plays had the Bearcats on the Traverse City St. Francis 20-yard line, facing second-and-9. That, though, is when quarterback Jordan Kaufman fumbled.

By halftime, the Gladiators were up 28-0 and they went on to a convincing 41-13 victory, a year after losing 20-0 to Mendon in the championship game.

"That fumble was just a huge play," said Ubly coach Bill Sweeney. "We've moved the ball on teams all year, and we thought we would be able to move it on them. We were doing that and then we had that fumble, and they went right down and scored and we never really recovered."

Rookie St. Francis coach Greg Vaughan agreed after his team finished off a 13-1 season.

"We had watched them on film, and we knew we were going to have to find some way of stopping their running game," he said. "We were going to have to do it by forcing some turnovers, so that first one was huge."

Ryan Farley had three touchdowns and 110 yards rushing, but quarterback Corey Williams might have played an even bigger role. Williams, who struggled after being forced into the 2007 final by injury, only tried six passes, but completed four of them — two for touchdowns.

"Last year, I had probably taken three snaps all year, and I don't think I had thrown a single pass," he said. "I had a terrible game, so I wanted to get back here and get another chance."

Farley's first two touchdowns helped St. Francis build the 28-0 halftime lead. Kaufman got his team on the board with a 65-yard run in the third quarter, but Farley's last score iced the game.

"We got punched in the mouth in the first half, and we didn't really get a chance to fight back until the second half," Sweeney said. "The better team won today, but if we didn't have that turnover, I really think we would have stayed in the game."

The St. Francis victory meant the first five titles decided this weekend had all gone to schools near Lake Michigan.