Battle Creek-area volleyball district final results
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The two teams traded scores early with Climax-Scotts (8-3) getting on the board on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Alexander Wurtzel to Elijah Bowron.
With Martin up 22-8 late in the first half, Climax-Scotts was looking to stay in the game and drove the ball down to the 10 in the final minute of the second quarter. However, the Panthers were stopped on fourth down as the game remained 22-8 at intermission. When Martin quarterback Haylen Buell scored on a 34-yard fake reversal on the Clippers’ first possession of the second half, it put Climax-Scotts in a 30-8 hole that it could not climb out of.
«Their speed and quickness gave us a bit of trouble,» Langs said. «The first two series they scored, but after that it was an even ball game. We wanted to eat the clock a bit. We had two possessions that didn’t go our way and that made a big difference.»
Climax-Scotts scored twice in the second half with senior Liam LaSala going in from a yard out on a run to cut the lead to 30-14 with 8:04 left in regulation. Maddox Wyman scored from three yards out for Climax-Scotts with 40 seconds left in the game for the final touchdown.
Climax-Scotts started the season with just two seniors with varsity experience – twins Liam and Hunter LaSala. Martin had a dozen seniors dressed on their sidelines.
Langs is hoping this experience helps Climax-Scotts going forward with the majority of the playing group being underclassmen.
«Great job by our seniors. They gave us everything,» Langs said. «It means a lot to get this far, proud of them, great season. But we will see what this means in the future. Do the young guys have a little bit of a taste to take another step?
«We call this a banner game. You win this game, you are in the state semifinals and our team gets to hang a banner on our gym wall. So this was a big game to them, chance to earn a banner. They came up short, so their hearts are broken.»
Hanover-Horton 20, Bronson 12
In the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2009, Bronson (8-3) fell short in its effort to advance in this loss to Hanover-Horton (9-2) in Division 7 action.
The game was tied 6-6 at halftime with Bronson leading 12-6 heading into the fourth quarter. However, Hanover-Horton scored 14 unanswered points in the final period for the win. Hanover-Horton came up with four interceptions in the win.
Bronson quarterback Spencer Losinski had 158 yards passing and a touchdown pass to Dalton Hoard. Losinksi also had a touchdown run. Reid Stukey led Bronson with 59 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Caleb Harvey had eight tackles, including four tackles for loss to lead the Viking defense.
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick
