Big plays down the stretch help Groves beat Seaholm
BIRMINGHAM » The see-saw battle for gridiron supremacy in Birmingham continued Friday as Groves exacted some revenge for previous defeats with a 30-21 district semifinal victory over crosstown rival Seaholm.
Meeting in the postseason for a third consecutive year, the two teams saved the pivotal plays for the final three minutes of action. An 11-yard touchdown run by Seaholm’s Will McBride drew the Maples within a couple of points with 2:47 to play, but Groves was able to defend a two-point conversion to maintain its 23-21 lead.
After a failed onside kick attempt, Seaholm’s defense forced a three-andout by the Falcons, but the Maples’ last-ditch effort to navigate the field for go-ahead points was cut short by an interception returned for a touchdown by Groves’ Myles Mooyoung.
“I think our defense really stepped up tonight and that was it. We made some plays on offense, but defense stood up,” Falcons coach Brendan Flaherty said. “In the past few times we played them, they just played harder than us. Tonight, I thought we played harder.”
A year ago, Seaholm knocked off Groves en route to the Division 2 semifinals. The Maples also won a 35-28 thriller on Oct. 9 this season, which left the Falcons with an extra chip on their shoulders for Friday’s rematch.
Special teams play was central to Groves’ success, as punter Orion Kendra repeatedly drove Seaholm backward with booming kicks. The Falcons also picked up their first points of the game on a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown by Stavros Panos in the opening quarter.
“To be honest, the past few times we’ve played them, particularly in the playoff game last year, they kicked our butt in the kicking game,” Flaherty said. “They do a great job with the kick teams. It was nice for us to come up on top in this one.”
The Falcons got off to an inauspicious start when their first play from scrimmage resulted in a Maples defensive touchdown less than three minutes into the game. A backward pass hit the turf and was recovered in the end zone by Seaholm defender Jake LaBarre for an easy score.
From there, however, Groves ripped off 23-straight points. A pair of touchdown connections between quarterback Kaleb Garner and his wideout Kendra helped build a 23-7 Falcons lead midway through the third quarter.
“Kaleb Garner goes an amazing job of keeping plays alive. And he gives us a chance,” Flaherty said. “The other thing that helps is if we can stay on schedule and not get behind on the chains, that helps us out too (offensively).”
Up against the ropes, Seaholm didn’t go down quietly. Caleb Knoer’s 4-yard touchdown run gave the Maples their first points on offense late in the third quarter. Later, following McBride’s touchdown, a presnap penalty on Seaholm’s potential game- tying two-point conversion proved costly.
“It was a horrible call by me. The clock management was bad. We had a freeze call and we tried to get another play called in and it just didn’t work,” Maples coach Jim DeWald said of the 2-point try.
“They outplayed us tonight. They definitely had our number tonight and they beat us.”
Seaholm finished the season 5-3. Up next, Groves (5- 3) will go on the road to face Warren Mott (7-1) for a district title next weekend.